Why Him?
by behindblueeyesxo
Summary: The Golden Trio are working hard to get rid of the last of the Death Eaters. But what happens when the one they wanted to catch most, becomes the one the one Hermione has to work with?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Hermione!" Hermione turned at the sound of her name. She saw her best friend Harry walking towards her. "The latest stats are in."

"Really? How're we doing?" She asked, hoping for good news.

"There are only seven known Death Eaters left in hiding. We've gotten almost all of them!" said Harry excitedly.

"Seven? That's amazing! That means we're only missing the Malfoy's, Yaxley, the Carrow's and who's the other?" asked Hermione.

"Stan Shunpike." Harry told her, his nose wrinkled in disgust. Stan had been kind to Harry when he was in year three, only to turn around and become a Death Eater. It was even worse that he had been the one to shoot Georges ear off.

"Make that five left! Neville and Luna just caught Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy." Said Ron, Hermione's fiancé. Hermione smiled at the sight of the man she loved so dearly, and the wonderful news that he had brought.

"Not Draco? I would have thought they'd stick together. Oh I hope they put me on his case. I want to be the one to stick him with the dementors." Hermione said darkly. If there was one person in the world that she hated more than the deceased Lord Voldemort, it was Draco Malfoy. He had stood by and done nothing while his horrid aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, was torturing her. Not only that, but during the Battle of Hogwarts her, Ron and Harry had risked their lives saving his, only to have him return to the Death Eaters, even going so far as to hug his master. He was a manipulating, lying, evil person. There weren't enough horrible words in the dictionary to describe him- in Hermione's mind at least.

"I haven't heard anything about him. I just saw Narcissa and Lucius crossed out on the board, with Neville and Luna's names by them. I hope that he gets the kiss." Ron said. This was even darker than Hermione's thoughts. A kiss from a dementor was said to be worse than death, as it left you with no soul. Ron had such hatred for Draco Malfoy for the exact reasons that Hermione did. Mostly because Draco was the one person who could have saved Hermione from such horrible torture as the cruciatus curse. But he hadn't. Ron listened to Hermione scream for hours while Ron was locked up in the Malfoy's dungeon.

"What's Kingsley doing here? He usually just leaves us to do our own thing." Harry inquired when he saw the Minister of Magic come into the Auror's offices.

"More importantly, what is _he_ doing with him?" Ron spat, suddenly sounding worried and angry. His arm went protectively around Hermione's, his other hand clutching his wand. Walking just behind the Minister, was Draco Malfoy himself. Within two seconds, the rest of the auror's had come out, their wands pointed at the Death Eater.

"Put your wands away everyone. Mr. Malfoy is here with me. He poses no threat to any of you." Kingsley Shacklebolt told them. The aurors reluctantly lowered their wands, but they most certainly did not put them away. "Mr. Malfoy here will be joining this office. I expect all of you to welcome and respect him, despite his past." There were murmurs of confusion and anger among everyone, but no one questioned the Minister outright. Hermione, Harry and Ron looked at each other in disbelief. They had spent half their lives hating Draco Malfoy, and now they were supposed to work with him? He was a bloody Death Eater! Before anyone could say anything, Hermione had marched right up to the Minister.

"Excuse me Minister, but could I talk to you for a second please? In private." She asked, glancing nervously at a smirking Malfoy.

"Yes of course Hermione. In your office?" He offered. She nodded tersely and led the way to her private office. Once they were both inside, she closed the door.

"Kingsley what the hell is going on?" She practically screamed. Although she was rather formal in front of everyone else, she had fought alongside Kingsley in the Order of the Phoenix, and was quite good friends with him.

"I know it must be quite a shock Hermione, but you know I would not place him in the Ministry without good reason."

"I'm baffled as to what reason there is for placing a Death Eater inside the Ministry. And in the Auror's office of all places!"

"Ex-Death Eater Hermione. Draco has agreed to help us track down the remaining few Death Eater's in return for his freedom and forgiveness. He deeply regrets his actions. In fact, it was his doing's that got his parents caught. He was unhappy with their continuation of the Death Eater way of life, so he purposefully left a trail for Neville and Luna to follow. If he had turned them in outright, his life would have been in grave danger."

"And you honestly believe all that? Kingsley, you saw what he did at the battle. And when I was being tortured!"

"He was young and scared and easily impressionable Hermione. I won't budge on this, he could be a huge help to us. I expect you to at least be civil with him." He said firmly. Hermione recognized this as the end of the discussion and sighed. Kingsley nodded to her and walked out of her office. Not long after he left, Ron and Harry barged in.

"What'd he say?" They demanded. Hermione related the conversation to them. Their reaction to the news was much the same as hers; angry and skeptical.

"Let's just leave. There's really nothing for us to do here right now." Hermione suggested.

"Let's go to Seamus's. I could use a drink." Harry suggested. Their friend Seamus from school had opened up a pub recently, which served great food and drinks. It was a great place to catch up, and they often ran into old friends from school. It was always interesting to see where people ended up, and who they ended up with.

"Well well, nice to see you three are still the best of friends." They heard an all too familiar voice sneer. They turned around to face a smirking Malfoy. Hermione's anger began to rise, getting stronger the more she looked at him.

"Fuck off Malfoy. You may have fooled Kingsley, but we're not so quick to forgive. Just you wait, I'm sure that pretty soon we'll get the pleasure of watching you receive a kiss from the dementors." Hermione half-yelled, trying to keep her anger in check.

"I'd much rather get a kiss from you." He said with a wink. Hermione's anger reached an all time high, and she was getting ready to hit him. But Ron beat her to it.

"Say another word to her, and I'll kill you." Ron snarled.

"I'd say Hermione throws a better punch." He said, referring to the time in third year when Hermione had punched Draco in the face. It had been a rather good punch, she had to admit. "It was obviously a joke Weasel. I wouldn't be caught dead kissing a mudblood."

Hermione froze. That word had haunted her since second year, when Malfoy had first called her that. She looked down at the scar on her arm that read _mudblood_, compliments of Bellatrix Lestrange. Malfoy had watched her get that scar. He had watched her experience unimaginable pain, and she was cursed over and over again. She looked down at Malfoy, who was wiping blood from his perfect nose, and stomped on it. She felt satisfied when she heard the crunching that came from under her heel.

"You filthy mudblood! I'll get you for this I swear to you I will." He vowed, rolling around on the floor holding what was left of his nose.

"You know, I think you should keep your nose that way. Then you'll resemble your master. It's what you've always wanted right- to be just like him? I've just made the process a little faster." She said, referring to Voldemort's lack of a nose.

"You have no idea what you're even talking about Granger." He said, his eyes dark with rage. If Hermione had looked a little closer, she might have seen the sadness and regret that came with it, but she was already heading out the door.

He hated her. He really did. He hated every ounce of that dirty blood. How could she possible say that he would ever want to be like Voldemort. He could never do those things- especially now that he finally saw clearly. When he was younger, he had done some horrible things. Things he didn't even want to think about. Although it was no excuse, he had gotten caught up in the excitement of it all. He was young and easily impressionable, but still very scared. After all he had seen and done, he knew that his ways had to change. However, despite his now reformed life style, old habits die hard. In Draco's mind, mudblood's were- and always would be, inferior. It was what he had grown up knowing. Hermione's dirty blood wasn't his only reason for hating her though. Of course it played a big factor in it, but there was also the fact that she was an insufferable know-it-all. She thought she was the smartest person ever, and she let you know it. She had this horrible tendency to always be right. Not only that, but she wasn't afraid of him. She would throw back whatever insults came to mind, and wasn't afraid of hurting him- emotionally or physically. He wasn't used to being talked back to- especially by anyone so inferior to him. There were just so many reasons to hate her; he couldn't even begin to list them all. Malfoy was still seething as he muttered the incantation to set his nose right and staunch the blood flow. He didn't want to be anything like Lord Voldemort- even in looks.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I'm just starting this out for fun, I've never done anything like this before, so please leave some reviews to let me know what you think, and how I could improve? It'd be muchly appreciated. Also, if you have any Title ideas, please let me know!

Chapter 2

"Draco! Draco my dear boy! Thank Merlin you're alright." Narcissa exclaimed as soon as she saw her son.

"Get us out of here please Son. They took our wands. How'd you get out?" His father inquired. Draco just stared back at him.

"Draco… What's going on?" Narcissa asked nervously.

"I won't be letting you out. I'm sorry. I can't do it." He told them.

"What? Draco what in Merlin's name are you talking about? Of course you can let us out. Your wand is right there, in your pocket. It won't be too hard to get out of here. We've infiltrated the ministry enough times to know how." Lucius assured him.

"I won't do it." Draco said firmly.

"I don't understand." Said Narcissa.

"How do you think we got caught? I would leave behind something each time we moved, hinting at where we might be going next. I took shortcuts in putting up concealment spells. I did everything I could do to get us caught without you knowing it was me."

"I still don't understand, Draco."

"I wasn't okay with your continuation of his ways! All the unnecessary killings of muggles and mudbloods should have died with the Dark Lord. It was cruel. It didn't need to happen! I came back to your side to protect you. I thought that maybe after everything he did to us, everything he took from us, that you might hate him as much as I did. I thought you were only complying out of fear for him. I didn't realize that you were often acting of your own accord, and following your own beliefs. I was too blind to see how dark you were. So I had to stop it. They're letting me be free in exchange for information. I will help them." He finished. His parents looked too stunned to say anything.

"You would do that… to your own family?" whispered his mother.

"You did just as much dark magic as us. Everything we did, we did to protect you." His father told him.

"Only to protect our family, father. And I don't see how killing so many innocent people protected me."

"They are inferior in everyway, and the world will be a better place without them. We did it so that you could live in a world rid of such scum!" Lucius told him.

"I couldn't stand by while you did all that. I'm sorry. I love you both." Draco was now trying to hold back tears. He wouldn't let his father see him cry. Ever. He looked at his mother, who was now openly crying, to stunned, angry and sad to say anything.

"You're no son of mine." Spat Lucius. "Get out of my sight."

Draco nodded and turned to leave. He tried to block out the angry words of his father, but many got through. Words like 'blood traitor' and the like hurt him almost as much as the cruciatus curse. He walked down the hall to is new office in the Auror's office as quickly as possible, still holding back tears. He couldn't let anyone see him cry. Especially all these people to hated and feared him so much.

"Stay out of my way, mudblood." Malfoy sneered at her as she sat on the ground. She had been so busy and juggling so much she hadn't even seen him when she walked smack into him.

"You fucking asshole, you stay out of mine." She sneered right back as she gathered her belongings.

"Now is not the time you want to mess with me Granger." He warned.

"Oh and why is that? Off on another mudblood killing rampage?" She asked. She saw him tense, his anger building. She was very pleased herself for getting him so riled up.

"You're seriously tempting me to start one."

"I'd like to see you try. I bet you're not half as brave without your precious Death Eater friends around to help you." Draco was seething now. She saw his hand twitch towards his wand, as if he was fighting off his old habits. She grinned at her ability to rile him up.

"You're lucky my life depends on not fucking up." He spat and walked away before he could do anymore damage. Hermione grinned to herself. She was finally getting him back for years of insults and hate.

A/N Sorry it's so short! Please review :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Sorry that this one is so short! But it's pretty important. I'll try to write more soon! Reviews are greatly appreciated :)

Chapter 3

Hermione was going through paperwork on her desk, trying to brainstorm ideas on finding the remaining Death Eaters when she heard the flap of paper. She looked around; there were no papers on her desk moving. Something bumped into her arm and she looked down to see what it could have been. Of course! How could she have been so stupid? It was just a note. Instead of owls the Ministry charms the note paper to fly to its recipient. It makes the cleaning staffs jobs much easier. She grabbed the fluttering note and opened it:

_Hermione,_

_Please come to my office as soon as you read this. It's incredibly urgent._

_Kingsley_

Hermione's stomach dropped as she read the note. _Incredibly urgent_ usually meant that something was wrong. Hermione disposed of the note and headed for the Ministers office right away.

"Kingsley what's going on?" She asked, not even bothering to knock on her old friends door. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who was sitting across from the Minister. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'll just wait outs-"

"No Hermione. I need to speak with the both of you. Shut the door please." Said Kingsley. Hermione did as she was told and took the seat next to her favourite Death Eater, shooting him a disgusted look.

"What's going on…?" She asked worriedly. Hopefully this wasn't about her breaking his nose or being so cruel to Malfoy. He deserved it all, and she most definitely didn't deserve getting in trouble for it. After all that he had done to her, she should be aloud to get a little payback.

"I've just finally had the chance to talk to Draco about everything he knows. I've got some really awful news." He said, worry written all over his face.

"Just come out with it Kingsley." Hermione said nervously. She felt as if her insides were all tangled up and what not.

"There's another horcrux." Hermione's head snapped up. Whatever she had been expecting to hear, it certainly wasn't that. Her, Ron and Harry had destroyed all the horcruxes- even the accidental one that Voldemort had made out of Harry. They had gone into peoples memories, lived in the forest for almost a full year and almost gotten killed on several different occasions. They had done everything they could to make sure all of the horcruxes would be destroyed. She had thought maybe a break out of Azkaban or something that would require a little bit of extra work, but this was much worse. This meant that Voldemort could be revived again.

"How- What- I thought-" stammered Hermione. She was so stunned she couldn't even get full sentences out. There were so many horrible thoughts running through her mind. At the same time, she was also planning how to hunt it down and destroy it.

"Draco, could you please explain to Ms. Granger about the ninth horcux?" Kingsley asked Malfoy. Malfoy turned to Hermione, and for a quick moment she thought she saw something other than contempt for her written on his face. Had it been worry? Sadness? Whatever it was, it was gone now.

"Voldemort had figured that Slughorn would remember the time he had inquired about horcruxes when he was still just a young boy. He knew that he had mentioned the magical number of seven. Although the Dark Lord desperately wanted the significance of seven horcruxes, he knew that his immortality could depend on having an eighth. To him, immortality mattered much more than significance. He hadn't expected all seven to be found, but you can never be too cautious. He wanted to be certain. The few remaining Death Eaters were planning on finding it and reviving him yet again. When I left they hadn't found it, but they were getting pretty close."

"Bloody hell." She said, using Ron's favourite term. She didn't know what else to say. For the second time within a few minutes, she was speechless. She saw Draco smirk, and she knew that it was because for once, the chatterbox was quiet. Hermione always had some sharp retort to fire back at him, or the answer to a complex question. She was hardly ever rendered speechless.

"I'm assigning you and Draco to this mission. You're to try to find the horcrux and destroy it as soon as you find it. I'll send you with a supply of basilisk fangs, as they're much easier to transport than a huge sword." Kingsley told them, referring to the sword of Gryffindor. He began to go into more detail on the mission, but Hermione hadn't been able to get past the fact that her and Draco were assigned to this mission. How could the minister do this? Why not her best friend and fiance? They certainly had plenty of experience in hunting horcruxes. "Hermione?"

"Yes?" She said, her head snapping to attention at the sound of her name. She looked over at Malfoy, who looked equally as upset at this news as her.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" asked Kingsley.

"You expect me to work with him? Are you out of your mind Kingsley. We can't stand to be in the same room, let alone go out on a mission alone together. How do you know we won't kill each other?"

"That's why you're here and not Ron or Harry. They very likely would kill each other, but you're much more logical than them, and I trust you to keep your emotions well enough in check. I'm sure you can push your differences aside long enough to save the world from the return of Voldemort." Hermione took a deep breath. Kingsley had a point there. She had much better control over her emotions and impulses than Ron or Harry. Getting rid of a horcrux trumped her hatred for the tall blonde sitting next to her.

"When do we leave?" She asked finally.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I had no idea how I was going to go about what I wanted to do. Please leave Reviews! I'd love to know what you guys think :) Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Hermione! Where have you been?" Harry called out. Hermione turned around to see Harry walking down the hallway towards her. She smiled at the sight of her best friend.

"Had a meeting with Kingsley." She told him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What about?"

"I've been assigned a new mission." Said Hermione vaguely.

"Why didn't he tell me or Ron?" said Harry, his brow furrowed. The trio always did missions together. They had been working together to save the world from evil since their first year at Hogwarts, and they knew how to get things done. They each had strengths to contribute to their missions, so it was a natural that they'd be put together. Why things would change now, Harry didn't understand.

"Well… because I'm going with Malfoy." She said nervously. She looked up at Harry timidly. She could see his face growing red with anger. She knew that he hated Malfoy with a passion, and the fact that Hermione was going on a mission with him only made things worse.

"Why would he do that? What's the mission? I really don't understand Hermione." Harry was trying to keep his anger under control, but he wasn't being very successful.

"Well, he needed some one with knowledge of hunting horcruxes… and some one who wouldn't kill Malfoy. Apparently you guys just don't have a good enough handle on your anger or something. I don't really know. And he needs Malfoy for his knowledge of Death Eaters, so I guess-"

"Wait a minute. Horcruxes? Death Eaters? Hermione what's going on."

"Well apparently… there's another horcrux. And the Death Eaters are going after it. They want to bring him back. So he's sending me and Malfoy."

"But we destroyed all the horcruxes! Hell we even destroyed the horcrux inside of me! And that one was accidental." Harry exclaimed.

"Voldemort remembered the conversation with Slughorn, and realized he had mentioned seven horxcruxes. Although he wanted the significance of having seven, immortality was more important to him. So Malfoy and I are to find it. I wish you could come. I don't want to be alone with him Harry. I don't trust him." Hermione said. Suddenly she was overcome with immense fear. What if Malfoy turned on her? What if all of this was a trap? It would be such a Malfoy thing to do. He would gain everyone's trust, break his parents out and turn her, an important member of the Order and Ministry, over. Harry, seeing her distress, let go of his anger and gathered Hermione into a hug.

"Shh, it'll be okay Hermione. Nothing will happen to you. If Kingsley trusts him I'm sure you'll be fine. Plus, you are much more talented than him. I won't let anything happen to you."

"You won't be there. It'll be just me and him."

"Just keep your guard up at all times. Always have your wand with you. I think he genuinely feels remorse for his actions. I still hate him, and always will, but I don't think you're in danger from Malfoy." Harry assured her.

"Thank you Harry. I hope you're right. I'm scared to tell Ron. He hates him so much. And he is rather protective of me. Should I wait?" Hermione asked nervously.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow night. Kingsley already has everything in place and ready to go. We have a tent and everything, just like when we were hunting horcruxes."

"Tell him today. Hermione you can't just throw this on him last minute. And he'll need to time to register everything. My mind is still reeling. I can't believe it. I'll come with you." He promised. Hermione smiled at him. She was so lucky to have a best friend like Harry.

"Ron? Can I talk to you?" Hermione asked nervously, looking at Harry for support.

"Sure hun. What's up?" He asked, grinning up at her. She loved his smile. She'd miss him so much on her mission.

"Well you see… Kingsley has put me on a mission. And- Well- It's just- I'm paired up with-"

"Just spit it out Hermione."

"Well. I'm on a mission. It's to find another Horcrux. And I've been paired with… Malfoy." Hermione looked at Ron, hoping for any indication of what he was thinking. She saw a multitude of emotions flash across his face- confusion, anger, wonder. He was clearly trying to reign in his emotions.

"You and… Malfoy. Together. On a mission. For another horcrux. You're kidding me right?" He asked incredulously. Hermione bit her lip and shook her head. Ron looked ready to explode. "Why would Kingsley put you together? You hate each other! He's likely to kill you!" He practically yelled.

"Because I have experience with horcruxes, and Malfoy with Death Eaters. And Kingsley knows I can keep my cool, and hopefully keep Malfoy under control. Kingsley trusts him." She explained nervously.

"You're not going are you?" asked Ron. Hermione looked at him, completely stunned. She was expecting anger and disbelief, but she hadn't been expecting this. She thought he would support her.

"Of course I'm going Ron!"

"You're honestly going to leave on a mission with some one who hates you? He's been awful to you your entire life. He's a Death Eater! How could you trust him enough to be alone with him?"

"If I don't go, Voldemort could come back. I can't let that happen Ron. So many people have already died, I can't let that happen again. We wouldn't be able to start a family if he did. What if more people close to us die?"

"I can't let you go. I don't trust him not to kill you, and I don't trust him not to try anything with you."

"He hates me Ron. He would never try anything with a mudblood like me. And I don't believe he'd kill me. It'd be way too risky. Kingsley trusts him, I'm sure not without good reason."

"I can't Hermione. It's too dangerous. And blood status aside, what if he does try something? I can't let it happen Hermione, I just can't."

"Do you really trust me that little Ronald?" Hermione said, suddenly hurt. She didn't understand how he could say these things. He was completely missing the point.

"You're not going."

"You can't control me like this Ron. I'll do what I think is right." She said defiantly. Hermione was beyond hurting, now she was angry. "If I want to go on a mission to destroy a horcrux with Malfoy, then that's what I'll do."

"You could get killed."

"I could have gotten killed every year we were at Hogwarts! Hell I could get killed walking down the street. If I die, I might as well die doing something worth dying for."

"I couldn't live without you Hermione. I can't protect you out there. Why would you want to go on a mission with that scum anyways?" Ron spat.

"You are so selfish! What happened to you?" She asked. Suddenly she was overcome with sadness. Where was the man she loved? The Ron she knew would support her in this. He would want her to do her part to save the wizarding world. Suddenly she couldn't even look at him. Hermione turned and stormed out of Ron's office. She couldn't believe him. As she turned the corner, tears started forming. They were tears of anger, sadness and hurt. She was angry that Ron was trying to control her. She was sad because she thought that she might have lost the man she loved. She was hurt that he didn't trust her. Mixed in with all these feelings after her fight with Ron, was fear. She was scared that Ron was right, she was scared that she might lose Ron, and she was scared that she might fail. Failure was something she was not accustomed too, and the thought that it was a possibility was horrible. All these emotions were just too much for her to handle, and the tears were flowing freely now. She looked around quickly to see if anyone was around and, upon realizing she was alone, sank to the floor. She was so wrapped up in her own misery that she didn't hear the footsteps until some one was standing right over her.

"Granger if you're going to mope around like this before we even start, I might as well just go on this mission alone." The voice said. She knew the cold voice before she even looked up. Looking down at her were those awful, cold grey eyes- full of contempt for her and the weakness she was showing. Not wanting to appear so weak infront of the man she loathed, she wiped her eyes and stood up to face him.

"Like you could get out of London without my help Malfoy." She retorted.

"Oh I'm sure I could just great without you. Mudbloods are such inferior witches you surely wouldn't be of much help to me. Your emotional baggage would certainly weigh us down as well." Hermione's anger spiked at such an insult. She instinctively reached for her wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"Do it Granger. I dare you." He taunted. Hermione started at him, her eyes full of anger and hatred. For a moment, Malfoy thought that she might be capable of it, there was so much hatred in her eyes. Not wishing to betray his fears, he laughed. "You don't have the guts to use the Cruciatus curse. Don't try to pretend like you do." Then he grabbed her wrist and lowered her shaking hand. Malfoy smirked at her and headed back down the hallway.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione called. Malfoy's body went completely rigid, then toppled to the ground stiffly. Hermione knew that it must of hurt. She lowered her wand and marched up to Malfoy, knowing that he could see and hear everything. "You don't know anything about me Malfoy. I won't sink to your level but performing the Cruciatus curse on you. I'm better than that, and I'm better than you. I may just be a mudblood, but I'm a hell of a lot of a better witch than you could ever hope to be. Just because you're pureblood doesn't mean you're a pure person." And with that, she spat in his face and stomped on his hand. She smiled at the satisfying crunch it made, and walked away. Some one would find Malfoy soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! So just a heads up, I'll probably be going back into previous chapters and fixing them up, because they're crazy short and written poorly, so I'll work on fixing that up! I doubt I'll change the story up, but if you wanna check through them again please do! Also, if anyone has idea's for a title let me know! **Review please please please! :)**

Chapter 5

Hermione looked around the flat that she and Ron shared. This could be the last time she saw in months. Or the last time ever. She walked around it, taking it all in. She knew that she wouldn't be anywhere that could qualify as a home to her in a long time, if ever again. She took in the comfy and expensive rugs, the magical artifacts that her and Ron had collected, the kitchen she had designed, and of course all of the pictures. There were pictures of her family and Ron's (who she considered to be her family now as well), her and Ron, Ron and Harry, her and Harry, all three of them, and various pictures of them with friends. She wouldn't see any of these people in a long time either. She would be spending months with only Draco Malfoy for company. Hermione grimaced at the thought. She knew that the months would be filled with screaming and cursing and fighting. As if the mission wasn't already going to be stressful enough.

_It's for everyone you love. It's so you can start a family. It's so the war can be over once and for all. _

This was what Hermione constantly repeated to herself as justification for taking the mission. At time when she thought about it, she considered telling Kingsley she couldn't do it. Then she would remember what was at stake, and vowed to suck it. She repeated her mantra again before looking at her watch. It was 1:25 in the morning. She really had to be going if she was going to be at the meeting point in 5 minutes. She sighed and headed to the bedroom that she and Ron shared to say goodbye. Before Hermione could even reach for the handle, she remembered what had happened earlier that day. Should she say goodbye to him? She was still livid with him, and completely hurt. She knew that he would still be furious at her for agreeing to the mission with Malfoy still as well. But on the other hand, if something happened she would never be able to forgive herself for not saying goodbye, and for not making things right. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Ron? I'm leaving. I just wanted to say goodbye. And… I'm sorry." She said quietly. She knew he was awake, even though his eyes were closed. She looked at him nervously, hoping that he would at least say goodbye to her.

"Just leave Hermione." She heard him say. His voice told Hermione everything. He was still angry at her, and still hurt that she would leave him and disobey him. He also felt defeated. He hadn't accepted the situation yet, but he knew that there was nothing he could do change her mind. Hermione nodded, blinking back tears, and walked back towards the door. As much as she was angry at him for handling the situation so badly and trying to control her, she didn't want to leave on these terms. She wanted to remember him as the man she was so inlove with, not the man who was so selfish he would risk world safety to keep her home. She glanced back over her shoulder at him. He was laying with his back to her. Hermione took a shaky breath and closed the door, hoping that she wasn't closing the door on her entire relationship with Ron.

"You're late." Malfoy told her. She didn't even acknowledge his presence, as she was still trying to hold back her tears. "Don't get all emotional Granger. We need to go, and I can't have you whining because you miss your pet weasel." Malfoy didn't add on what he was thinking- that at least she had people to say goodbye to. He had considered going to say goodbye to his parents, but he knew that they would only yell at him- or worse, not even acknowledge him. He wanted to go with as clear a head as possible, and to do that, he couldn't be clouded with the emotions he would have if he saw his parents.

"Shut your face Malfoy. We had a fight." Hermione grudgingly admitted.

"And I'm sure the make-up sex was great. Now can we get a move on?"

"We didn't make up." She told him, blinking back tears. She would not let Malfoy see her cry. He wasn't aloud to see any weakness that she might have. And he certainly didn't need yet another reason to pick on her. "Let's go."

"We're to find a secluded place to apparate to in Northern Scotland. That's where the Death Eaters are." He told her.

"I know a place. Grab my arm." She commanded. Malfoy hestitated, a look of disgust on his face. "Oh my god Malfoy I'm not going to contaminate your precious pure blood by you touching me. Just grab on so we can go!" Malfoy grudgingly grabbed onto Hermione's arm. They turned on the spot and felt the familiar feeling of being pushed through a too-small tube. They arrived at their destination with a loud crack.

"Where are we?" Malfoy asked, looking around.

"I stayed in this forest with Harry and Ron when we were hunting horcruxes in seventh year." She explained.

"There's nothing around." He stated, crinkling his nose. Malfoy had always been surrounded by people, being in such a secluded face almost made him feel claustrophobic. He brushed that thought off quickly. He had no fears. Plus, was it even possible to feel claustrophobic if all there was around was open space?

"That's the point dumbass." She sneered. Hermione set straight to work on setting up camp. She magically set the tent up with her wand in about two seconds, then set about the tasks of setting up the wards. She cast disillusionment charms, anti-apparation charms, muffliato, and several extra safety charms- including confudding charms to steer people away from their camp-to make sure that no one would find them unless either her or Draco seriously messed up. "Alright, you're not to set foot outside these wards. I don't care how alone we may seem, you never know who or what is lurking around these forests."

"Yes sir." Malfoy growled as he ducked into the tent. Hermione followed, and smiled as she took in her surroundings. This tent was much more spacious than the tents she had used before. It had a kitchenette, full bathroom, two bedrooms, a sitting area and a dining area. She would still be in close quarters with Malfoy, but at least she could go into a closed off space at the end of the day- even if there was only a curtain around her bed.

"Should one of us be keeping guard?" Malfoy asked, looking outside warily. Hermione considered this for a second, weighing their situation carefully.

"I don't think so. We're in a remote area, and no one is looking for us. Even if some one does get through the wards, we're not wanted this time. Death Eaters think we're at the ministry, and the ones who know we're on a mission don't know where we've gone. Even if they did know, they aren't a-"

"Shut up Granger."

"You asked me!"

"It was a simple yes or no question. I didn't need a fucking speech on it."

"I was just backing up my answer." She said somewhat sulkily.

"Whatever. I'm hungry. I'll expect supper in 10 minutes." He said, walking into what he was apparently claiming as his room.

"Who says I'm cooking? What if I don't want to?" She said stubbornly. Malfoy stopped and turned to look at her. The expression on his face told her that he thought she was the stupidest person in the world.

"I say you're cooking because you're inferior to me in every way and inferior people do what superior people say." Hermione's anger started rising at Malfoy's cocky and rude attitude.

"Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure my grades were superior to yours. And I'm pretty sure I helped save the wizarding world, while you tried to destroy it. Everything points to _me_ being the superior one here." She told him. Malfoy felt about ready to kill her. He didn't like to admit is flaws or failures, especially to a mudblood. The fact that a mudblood had done better than him at school had always been a sore spot for him as it went against everything he had been trained to believe in. Mudbloods were supposed to be less talented in the ways of magic, and everything about Granger went against that. His past with the Death Eaters was now a source of shame for Malfoy, as he realized that such radical means were not right. Sure their opinions were right, but did muggle-borns really need to be exterminated? But Hermione didn't need to know any of this. She could keep on believing that he was proud of his past. Maybe it would be better if she feared him. Malfoy plastered a sinister smirk on his face.

"You might have higher grades Granger, but I have higher blood status _and_ a higher kill count." He told her, knowing that she would perceive this as a threat. Malfoy was satisfied when Granger had no reply, and turned back to walk into his room. "Now that we've got that settled. I'll be ready for supper in 5."

"That actually smells decent Granger." Malfoy said with a tone of surprise. He walked out of the room as soon as smelled whatever it was that Hermione was cooking up as he was absolutely famished. "Where's mine?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, seemingly innocently. She smiled to herself when she saw the anger flash across Malfoy's face. His threats had done nothing to her. She could call a bluff when she saw one, and she called his. If he killed her, the ministry would have his head and he'd be wanted by both sides. Plus, he wasn't likely to complete this mission without her.

"My food Granger. Where is my food?"

"Oh you wanted me to cook for you! I thought that you'd be ready to start cooking in five minutes. I was famished so I decided to go ahead and cook something up for myself. Sorry!"

"No you didn't Granger. You'll make me food, or I'll-"

"You'll what Malfoy? Call me a mudblood again? I've heard that enough times for it not to bother me. I know you wouldn't kill me, even you aren't that stupid. You'll make your own food, or you can go hungry." She said dismissively. Hermione grabbed her plate of food and headed off to her bedroom. She could hear Malfoy yelling a colourful string of insults at her, but she tuned him out and cast a quick silencing cell on her room to completely block him out. She grinned, knowing that she had beat him in this fight, and that she had gotten the final word in. Despite her happiness that she had won an argument with Malfoy, she started to have doubts about them working together. They'd only been together a couple of hours and already they were at each others throats. How in Merlins name were they supposed to work together? She sighed, knowing that she would have to go back and make peace- well, as much peace as her and Malfoy could ever have. She got up off her bed and walked back out into the common area. Malfoy was wrinkling his nose at whatever it was that he was eating- Hermione couldn't really be sure what it was.

"Malfoy?" She said timidly. He looked up and scowled at her. She gave a small smile and pointed her wand at his food, transfiguring it into spaghetti.

"Was that really so hard Granger? You couldn't have done that for me 15 minutes ago?"

"A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed. Besides, that wasn't the point. The point was I'm not your slave. I won't do your bidding for you, especially after you've spoken to me in that way."

"Whatever Granger. Point made. Doesn't mean I'll be paying attention to it." He sneered, digging into his new food.

"I was just thinking about something." She said, ignoring his attitude. He looked at her, as if telling her to go on. "We've been stuck together for a few hours at most, and we're already at each others throats. How're we supposed to work together when we can't even have a civil conversation?"

"It's not my fault that you're a stuck up bitch."

"_I'm _the stuck up one? That's hilarious coming from Mr. 'I'm so superior because my ancestors only banged other purebloods'." She yelled. Then she caught herself, realizing that she was being counter-productive in making her point. "See! This is exactly what I mean. All these snarky comments escalate into full blow outs! We'll never be able to find the horcrux if we can't talk to each other. So please, for the rest of the world's sake, _try_ to be civil towards me, and I'll show you the same courtesy." She pleaded. Malfoy seemed to be considering this, as if he wasn't quite sold on it. Then he slowly nodded his agreement and continued eating. Hermione smiled, relieved that they had finally agreed onsomething. She knew that they would never be able to get along completely, but it was a start.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"_I love you Hermione, more than anything in the world. Will you please marry me?" Ron asked. Hermione's heart swelled with happiness and love for the man on one knee infront of her. Her eyes welled up with tears, and for a minute she lost the ability to speak. She started to nod her head before she could choke out that one word._

"_Yes!" Ron jumped up off his knee and enveloped her in a hug. "I love you." _

Hermione woke with a start, tears streaming down cheeks. She brushed them away, trying to forget the dream that she had just had. Ron's proposal had been one of the happiest moments of her life, and she couldn't bear to relive it when she knew that she might never see him again. She especially couldn't bear the fact that even if she did see him again, there was a possibility that they would never end up back together. No matter how angry she was at Ron for being so selfish and controlling, she was overwhelmed with a sadness that gripped her heart. What had happened to the man that she loved so much? The man that had tried to forbid her from going on this mission certainly wasn't him. Suddenly she felt as though she was being suffocated. She needed air. Now.

Safely outside the tent, Hermione shakily sat down outside the tent. Her head dropped into her hands, and she took a few ragged breaths. Why was she unable to breath all of a sudden? What was happening to her? She felt a sharp pain in her chest, and she had to resist crying out. She felt as if she was losing total control. She struggled to gain control of her body and her emotions for a while. She was not one to show weakness, ever. She had already been caught crying once by Malfoy, she didn't need him thinking that she was a weak, emotional wreck of a mudblood. She felt completely alone. Harry was back at the ministry, with no way of contacting him, she could have potentially lost Ron forever, and any one that she considered a friend was back in London. She was left alone with her emotions and only Draco Malfoy to keep her company. At this realization, Hermione finally gave in allowed herself to cry freely. She was completely alone. She had lost everyone. Another sharp pain gripped her chest. She gasped at the sudden intense pain. What was happening to her? This wasn't normal? Was she dying of loneliness? Heartbreak maybe? _Jesus Hermione, get a grip_. She tried to reason. _You can't die of loneliness and heartbreak. Those are emotions for the weak. You are not weak_. She tried to tell herself, but it was no use.

"Granger?" She heard a groggy voice say behind her. Her head snapped up, and she quickly wiped her tears away.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She asked, trying to keep her voice even.

"Are you… are you alright?" He asked. Merlin he sounded awkward. She let out a sharp laugh.

"Like you care. I'm fine though." She lied. She heard him move around her, she turned her head away, trying not to let him see her tears. She knew that her attempts were futile, as her hiccups and ragged breathing were tell-tale signs of her distress.

"I'm just trying be civil." He said, sounding somewhat exasperated at her stupidity.

"There's a difference between being civil and caring. I know that you're incapable of emotion. Stop pretending and go back to bed. I'm fine." She said coldly. Her words had little effect though, because as soon as she finished speaking another sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped at the pain. This time it was much stronger. She tried to put on a brave face, but her attempts were in vain, as the pain was too obvious.

"Granger, you're clearly not alright. Come inside." He said, offering a hand to help her up. Hermione glared at the hand with disdain, deciding whether to take it or not. She decided on the latter.

"I'm okay out here thank-" But she couldn't finish her sentence, as the pain increased. Malfoy ignored her and grabbed her hand, hauling her up and practically dragging her into the tent.

"Sit." He commanded. Hermione obliged, sitting at their little makeshift dining room table. He could feel her eyes on him, as she watched him suspiciously. Of course Granger would be suspicious, she was raised by muggles. She would know what tea was. He finished making the tea, and placed it infront of her.

"Drink." He commanded again, sitting down across from her. He watched her take a tentative sip, and saw the shock register on her face when she recognized what she was drinking.

"Is this chamomile tea?" She asked incredulously. Of course she would be surprised. He had always showed such disdain for muggle things, so the fact that he would have tea would be a huge shock for her.

"Yes." He told her. She continued to drink, eying him suspiciously. "Dammit Granger stop staring at me and just drink."

"Why are you helping me?" She asked after a little while. To be honest, Draco had no idea why he was helping her. He had felt something tug at his heart when he saw how upset she was. He couldn't explain it, but he felt the need to make her feel better. However, old habits die hard, so he didn't allow himself to fully comfort her. He couldn't let her know that he could potentially be softening towards her. Wait. Softening towards her? Get a grip, he told himself. Draco would never feel anything besides contempt and disgust for Granger, right? So why then, when he had recognized the tell-tale signs of a panic attack, had he decided to help her? He had no clue.

"Because I don't want to deal with it for longer than I have to." He settled on. This wasn't exactly a lie. He really didn't want to. It made his heart feel weird, and he didn't like it. Hermione smiled slightly at this comment, knowing that it was probably the truth, as Malfoy was always incredibly blunt.

"Well… Thank you." She said with another small smile. "I feel much better."

"What's wrong?" He asked before he could stop himself. Why did he care what the cause of her pain was? He should be enjoying watching her suffer. Hermione looked a little taken aback at his question, but she quickly recovered.

"I'd really rather not talk about it. I'm fine." She said. To Malfoy it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of this, not him.

"Is it the weasel? Are you still upset about your fight?" He asked. He tried to add a little bit of mockery to his tone to hide his genuine curiosity. He took her silence as a yes. They sat in silence for a while, until Hermione finally spoke.

"How did you know about the tea? It's a muggle thing." She asked with her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Just an old trick I picked up from Snape. If people needed subduing and there was no access to magical ingredients, this was the next best thing. Although it is a muggle technique, it actually proves quick effective." He lied. He really knew about it because of his mother. She always drank chamomile tea before going to bed, and if she ever got upset. It was something that he had taken to since he had betrayed them. But Hermione couldn't know this. He had to appear cold and indifferent to her. Even his answer had had too many words in it. He preferred to speak to Granger as little as possible.

"My mom used to give it to me when I got upset." She said simply. She tried to hide it, but Draco noticed the slight pain in her eyes at the mention of her mother. Why did talking about her mother make her sad? Was she dead? Draco decided not to ask. This was already getting to friendly for his liking. Civil was one thing, but an actual conversation like this was too much for him.

"Well, you seem to be okay now. I'm going to bed." He announced, and strolled off towards his room.

"Malfoy?" She said when he reached the doorway. He turned to look at her. "Thank you." She said with a smile. Malfoy nodded and turned to walk away. Why did she have to be so nice? Why couldn't she just accept the tea and leave it.

"Good morning!" Hermione chirped happily when Draco walked into their tents kitchenette.

"Feeling better?" He inquired, yawning.

"Much better. Thank you." She said with a smile. Draco tried not to grimace. Why was she being so nice? Didn't she understand that they weren't friends? He helped her because he wanted her to stop crying, not because he actually cared.

"Granger just because I helped you, it doesn't mean we're friends now." He told her coldly. Hermione turned around to glare at him.

"Of course. One act of kindness doesn't undo years of hatred and rudeness. It doesn't undo everything you've done to me. If you thought for even one second that I might want to be anything more than civil towards you, you thought wrong. I'm not that quick to forgive." She said, her anger flaring in her eyes. Draco watched her calmly, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he smirked.

"Are you done?"

"For now." She said, then turned her back to him again. He watched her as she began preparing food. He admired her ability to control herself. Most girls would scream and cry at him. She simply told him like it was, and continued on about her day. And she was always so hesitant to cry infront of him, trying to cover it up as quickly as she could. Her attempts were rather futile, but the fact that she wanted to appear so strong said something for her.

"Stop staring at me." She told him coldly as she slammed a plate of food down infront of him. Had he been staring? He hadn't noticed.

"Thank you." He said, choosing to ignore her previous comment. Why would he have been staring at her? Hermione glared at him and went on eating her own food. They ate in silence, not even looking at each other. When they were finished, Hermione flicked her wands and the dishes were clean.

"We really should start working. I have some maps and pictures. We need to narrow a location down."

"Yeah for sure." He said, watching her pull maps and pictures and quills out of her little bag.

"How did you fit all that in there?" He asked curiously. Hermione looked at him as if it was he most obvious thing in the world. He didn't like being made to feel stupid, especially by a mudblood.

"Undetectable extension charm. It came in handy when I was looking for horcrux's last time." She explained.

"Okay, so I have a map of Scotland and England. Can you mark where you travelled and tell me about where you stayed each time?" She asked, pushing the map and a quill across to him. Draco marked the way that him and his fellow Death Eaters had taken. When he had finished, he pushed it back across the table to her. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the complex routes.

"There's no pattern. You bounced around everywhere!" She exclaimed.

"Magic is traceable if you know what to look for. We apparated to many different places before each destination in the hopes of throwing anyone who might be following us off. We also all took different routes to get there, so that should anyone get caught they wouldn't drag everyone down with them." He explained. Hermione groaned.

"They're going to be impossible to trace!" Hermione groaned. Draco smirked at her.

"You seem to have forgotten that I knew where they were going and their travel habits Granger. We're able to figure things out by looking ahead and some estimating too. I know these people very well." He assured he. Wait, why was he assuring her? He should just be stating things. He shrugged it off.

"I guess so. Okay, so where were they headed?" She asked.

"Last I heard, they were heading for a place in the North of Scotland. They were taking a round about way of getting there and picking things up along the way. I think that they were recruiting people in various towns as well." He exclaimed.

"Recruiting again? They're very confident." Said Hermione.

"We were positive that it was there. We just weren't quite sure where."

"Okay. Is there a particular place in the North that you were headed?" she asked. Draco shook his head regrettably. "How were you planning on finding it?"

"We were going to go to various towns and ask about Tom Riddle, not Voldemort. Maybe there was somewhere that had been of significance to him. The Death Eaters will take longer to get there, if we leave within a few days we could beat them there and get a head start on the hunt." Draco suggested. Hermione nodded, clearly very deep in thought.

"Did Salazar Slytherin have any relationship to Northern Scotland? Do we know of any of the Marvolo's living there?" Hermione asked, thinking of anything that could be of significance to Voldemort.

"I have no idea. Do you have any books on his family?"

"I didn't read anything about Slytherin in Scotland in Hogwarts: A History, and I know that book inside and out. You're a Slytherin? Do you know anything?"

"Nothing was mentioned to me." Draco said, shaking his head. Hermione slumped in the chair. This was going to be such a tedious job. It was going to take so long to do all that research in all those different places. It could take months. Months that she would be spending with no one for company but Malfoy.

A/N: Hey guys! So I'm in exams right now, so updating is going to be a little slower. I'm working on making the chapter longer that the beginning, because I've just been realizing how short they are! I made the already posted chapters a couple hundred words longer and edited them a little bit better, so if you want to check them out again go for it! It won't change anything in the story though. Anyways, let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Here's chapter 7! I must really love my few readers because I've been keeping up during exams! Hehehe. It's a little longer again, so I'm getting better! Please please please review! I'd love to know what you think :)

Chapter 7

"Where are we supposed to stay here?" Malfoy asked, wrinkling his nose at the little town. Everything in the town was cute and quaint, not big and dark like Malfoy preferred. Personally, Hermione quite liked it here. She looked around, not knowing the answer to his question. They had just landed in the first town they had planned on checking out, Thurso. It was in the north of Scotland, and it was on the ocean. Based on where the locket horcrux had been found they thought that maybe Voldemort was fond of the sea and decided to search those towns. The thing about searching a town was that there weren't many secluded areas to stay. It's not like they could stay in a hotel or anything for fear of being seen.

"Let's go to the outskirts of town and see if there's any forests or anything around there." Hermione suggested. Draco nodded and they began walking. They walked for about 15 minutes in silence, until the houses began to thin out.

"I seriously hope our plan didn't rely on there being a forest here." Draco commented. Hermione looked around disdainfully. There wasn't a tree in sight, just fields.

"Well, I supposed we could stay in that field." Hermione said, motioning to a large empty field. Hopefully no one would decide to take a stroll through it tonight.

"A field, Granger? I hope you're bloody kidding. It'd be like shooting pygmypuffs in a cage if the Death Eater's came!"

"Well if we cast the wards properly, we should be fine." Hermione said tentatively. She was also a little nervous about staying in such an open area, but it was a better spot than anywhere else.

"I bloody hope you're right Granger. If anyone finds us I swear to Merlin…" Draco threatened. Hermione smirked at what she knew was an empty threat. She undid her disguise with a flick of her wand and then cast a disillusionment charm over herself and Malfoy.

"Granger! I can't see where you're going!" Malfoy hissed when Hermione started walking to where she planned on setting up the tent.

"Oh, sorry!" She exclaimed, walking back to where she had heard Malfoy's voice come from. "Here, grab my hand."

She waved her hand through the air until she felt Draco's arm. She found his hand and started dragging him in the direction she had started off to. Hermione felt Draco tense up as her hand closed around his. "Merlin's beard Malfoy, I haven't got cooties." She laughed.

"It's not the cooties I'm worried about." He sneered.

"Oh suck it up. You're not going to get 'dirty blood' from touching me Malfoy." She scowled. They walked in awkward silence after that until they stopped at what Hermione deemed a suitable place. She began pulling thing after thing out of her bag.

"Could you set the tent up while I cast the wards please?" She asked Malfoy. Then she went about casting all the necessary wards, including a muggle repelling charm and a confudus ward incase and wizards happened about. When she had finished, she went into the tent to find Draco already looking at a map of the town.

"Did you cast all the wards?" He asked, looking up.

"And then some." She sighed, sitting down. Casting so many wards at once was tiring, as it required so much magic.

"I was just looking at the map so that we wouldn't be wandering around aimlessly tomorrow. I think the best place to go would be the library so that we can look into the archives." He suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing. It'd be pointless to ask around, as he would have been here so long ago. Surely any wizard of importance would make it into the archives. And from what Harry's told me of the Marvolo's, they were so dysfunctional that they'd likely be in there too."

"How does Harry know about the Marvolo's. Information on them is limited to even the Slytherins." Draco inquired, his brow furrowed.

"In year six, him and Dumbledore began searching for horcruxes. This involved diving into the memories of many people. They went into a memory involving the Marvolo's. Dumbledore had a little knowledge of them as well." She explained.

"Well, I hope something turns up. It would be great if we got the right place on the first go." Draco said, leaning back. Hermione nodded in agreement. The sooner this was over with, the better.

"What do you want for dinner?" Hermione asked, turning to head into the kitchen. Draco's eyebrows shot up at this in surprise.

"You're making me dinner? After last night?" He asked.

"Of course. You helped me, plus we had agreed to be civil. It would hardly be civil if I just allowed you to eat whatever it was that you had been eating before I got there." She explained.

"Oh, well I'll just eat whatever you make for yourself."

"I'm kind of in the mood for breakfast for supper. Is that okay with you?"

"Breakfast for supper? What in Merlin's name is that?" asked Draco.

"You've never had breakfast for supper? Maybe it's a muggle thing." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Oh… What is it?" Draco said, trying to hide his disdain for anything muggle.

"It's when you eat breakfast food for dinner. My parents used make it sometime." She said smiling wistfully. Draco watched as the peaceful look on her face was replaced with a troubled on.

"What?" Draco asked, confused at the sudden change in her demeanor.

"Nothing. So is breakfast for supper okay? I was thinking I would make chocolate chip pancakes." She said, trying to cover up her emotions.

"Yeah. That'll be fine." Draco agreed, still confused at the change in her demeanor at the mention of her parents. Had something happened to them? Draco was incredibly curious, but he knew that he couldn't just ask her. They weren't even friends, let alone confidants. Plus, it wasn't like he actually cared, right? He watched as Hermione pulled ingredients out of the pre-stocked cupboards. It appeared as if the cupboards in the kitchenette had everything in them, and would restock themselves as soon as something had been removed. She began tossing ingredients into a bowl and mixing them with her wand. He watched in confusion when she conjured a spatula and began flipping the pancakes without magic.

"Granger you know you have a wand right?" He said.

"I prefer doing it this way. It's much more fun. I remember being so happy when I finally landed a flip perfectly." She said with a smile. Draco watched in amazement as she tossed a pancake up in the air, and it landed perfectly back on the pan. She smiled as she handed him his plate and sent a a fork, knife and syrup over with her wand.

"What other breakfast for supper foods are there?" Draco asked curiously. He seemed to be really enjoying the pancakes.

"Anything you might eat for breakfast! You could have cereal, an omelet, eggs, ham, bacon." She told him.

"And this is a common muggle thing?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes. Muggles all over the world do it. It's not like a special occasion or anything, it's just something we do sometimes."

"Weird." Draco hated to admit it, but he found this muggle tradition endearing, and he began to wonder more about what odd things muggles did. He couldn't say anything though, because muggles were inferior and he really didn't care about them at all. It was just a passing thought, nothing more. They ate the rest of their dinner in silence; the only sound was the crickets outside and rustling of the grass in the wind. Just as they were finishing up, Hermione thought she heard something. Her head snapped up and she rushed to the opening of the tent.

"What's going on Granger?" Malfoy asked nervously.

"There's some one one out there. Come here." She said, waving him over. He stood up and walked to where she was standing. Sure enough, there were a few voices coming from outside their tent. They both froze. They knew their wards would hide them, but their bodies refused to move for fear of making a sound. As the people got close, Draco and Hermione could faintly hear what they were saying.

"They're making their way across Scotland." One voice said.

"Apparently they're recruiting again. Merlin knows why though. It's over, why can't they just accept it?" Another said.

"Clinging onto whatever little bit of hope they have left I guess." The first voice said again.

"Death Eater's need to learn when to give up. He's gone and they need to accept it and get on with their lives." The second voice said with more vigour. Hermione gasped, but Malfoy grabbing her arm as a reminder not to make any noise soon distracted her. She figured that he just did it out of reflex.

"Oh well. It's not like they can do any damage now. They've got no one to follow. The next best thing was Lucius and now that he's been caught…" Draco's hand tightened on her arm until she thought she might lose all feeling in it.

"Malfoy." Hermione started to say.

"Shh." He said, cutting her off.

"I just hope that they don't corrupt too many more innocent minds with their horrid ways. We should be moving forward and leaving all this prejudice behind us." One of the voices said. Hermione looked at Malfoy, giving him a pointed look, but he was still too rattled about the mention of his father to notice.

Draco was fuming. Sure his father had been pretty dark, but he was nowhere near as dark as Voldemort. How could these imbeciles say that? They don't even know him! He was so angry at this association that his hand unwillingly tightened its grasp on Grangers arm. He knew that he was probably hurting her, but he couldn't unclench his fist. He had half a mind to go out there and teach those tossers a lesson, but he knew that he couldn't. He'd blow their cover and potentially get them killed.

"Malfoy," Hermione tried again. The feeling of her struggling against him pulled him out of his angry trance. When he listened closely, he could tell that the wizards walking by had gone. He let go of Hermione, and headed back inside.

"Sorry." He mumbled as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"It's alright." Hermione said understandingly. She looked at him with concern written all over her face. She knew that it must be hard for him to hear his father spoken of in the way.

"Stop looking at me like that." He snarled.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like you actually care."

"Sorry for showing a little compassion for another human being." She said defensively. Malfoy cringed.

"Please tell me you're not cringing because I just spoke of us as the same species." She said, exasperated. Malfoy didn't say anything.

"You're impossible! We're both human beings Malfoy. I'm a person. You're a person. The only difference between us is that you come from a line of wizards, and me a line of muggles. Muggles aren't dirty. They're people. Just like you. Get your head out of your arse and start seeing the world as it really is." She exploded. Malfoy still didn't say anything. He wasn't in the mood for a fight, but he wasn't going to apologize for his beliefs. Hermione stood up and started bustling around the kitchen, cleaning up.

"You have a wand you know." He reminded her for the second time that night.

"I know Malfoy. Sometimes I prefer to do things the way I was raised. It's a good way to blow off some steam." She said, slamming a pile of plates down into the sink.

"Exactly. You do things the way you were raised." He said. He didn't want to fight, but she left that wide open. She stopped and looked at him.

"There's a huge difference."

"How?"

"Me doing the dishes the muggle way isn't hurtful to anyone! It's not getting people killed. It's not hurting anyone's feelings."

"Whatever Granger. I can't help the way I was raised."

"But you can help the way you think." Hermione said a little more softly.

"I was trained my whole life to hate muggles and muggle-borns. I can't just turn around and start thinking a whole different way. I can't just change my views at the drop of a hat. It's not that bloody simple."

"I was raised believing that magic didn't exist. I was raised to believe that I was just a muggle, and only muggles existed. Then one day, I'm suddenly told that everything I was told was wrong, and that I was to be thrown into a world were magic surrounded me- where magic was to become my life. I changed my views and beliefs at the drop of a hat. I completely immersed myself in magic. How is that any different?" She explained calmly. She was finally understanding that Malfoy had been raised to be the way he was. It was impossible to undo years of brainwashing all of a sudden, so maybe if she planted that seed of doubt, it would grow and he would come to accept the fact that there really was no difference.

"As a child you'll believe everything you're told. Magic was a myth, not constantly drilled into your head. For me, mudbloods and purebloods was always very real. From the time I could speak it was drilled into my head by my parents. Then when I became a Death Eater, it was drilled into my head even harder by the Dark Lord himself. People sharing those beliefs surrounded me. It's all I've ever known for 21 years. So yes, it is different." He explained equally as calmly. Their normal battles over blood status had turned into civil debates. Maybe Hermione was getting somewhere.

"Yes, but clearly you don't believe it as strongly as you like to think."

"What do you mean? Of course I do."

"Then why did you turn your family in? If you really hated us as much as you say you do, why wouldn't you want us dead?" Malfoy cringed at her usage of us. It seemed different when she said it like that, as if she was the target.

"It's one thing to be superior to them. It's a completely different thing to want them all dead." He said, speaking as if he wasn't talking about people like her. He wasn't quite sure why, but it just felt wrong to speak as if he were talking about her specifically- even if she was a mudblood.

"Is there even any proof that you're superior?" She asked him. When he didn't respond, she forged on. "I mean, I'm a muggle-born and I had the best marks in our year. That put my magical abilities above many purebloods out there." She said. This angered Draco. Any reasoning he had had not wanting to hurt her was gone. The mention of a mudbloods doing better than him in school caused him to cringe anyways, the memories of his father berating him for it just made everything so much worse.

"Oh come off it Granger. You must know yourself that your kind is inferior. Why else would you try so hard at school? It's because you felt you had to prove yourself. If you were a pureblood, you would have already known that you were capable. You wouldn't have felt that need to prove yourself to everyone by being such an insufferable know-it-all." He spat. Hermione went silent. Tears started welling up in her eyes, but she pushed them back. Malfoy's heart almost softened a bit at this, but he pushed any kind thoughts of her away.

"I worked so hard in school so that I could be the best that I could be. It started off with me just being so curious about the magical world that I knew nothing about. Then as I learned more, I wanted to improve. Everything was so fascinating that I had to know more. Then it became a necessity. Since year one, Harry, Ron and I have been battling Voldemort. If I hadn't constantly studied and read I would have been dead my first year at Hogwarts. Every year since then my knowledge of magic has saved my life. I worked so hard so that I could save myself and those that I love from people like you." She spat back. That hurt. A lot. He hated being put in with murderers, even though he was one. He hated being the type of person that she had to save herself from. He hated himself.

"I'm done with this. Believe whatever you bloody want to, but I know that I'm not inferior. I know that my hard work paid off. When it comes down to it, that's what matters." She said angrily. With that, she stood up and stormed off to her room. "You can make yourself breakfast tomorrow."

A/N: REVIEW PLEASE XOOXOX MUAH


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Exams were taking up all my spare time. But I'm done so hopefully I'll be able to update more often! So this is such a filler chapter, and I'm reallly sorry for that, but there does need to be the occasional filler. The next one will be much more intense I promise! Review Review Review please! They give me motivation to write :)

Chapter 8

"You're going to have to do better than that Malfoy." Hermione said, giving him a quick once over.

"What, don't I look different enough?" He asked, glancing in the mirror.

"You have trademark Malfoy hair. We know that there's wizards familiar with your family here, we can't risk them recognizing you!"

"Fine." He said. With a flick of his wand, he changed his hair to black. Hermione stifled a laugh at the sight of Malfoy with dark hair. Paired with his pale skin, he looked rather gothic. It was a hilarious sight. But she was still mad at him for last night, so she hid her laugh and resumed her indifferent face.

"What? This not different enough for you Granger?" He looked in the mirror and almost cracked a smile at his own reflection.

"Just leave it. I don't think anyone will recognize you with that hair." She told him, turning to leave the tent. They were heading off to library to look for some proof that anyone related to Voldemort had been here. The conversation that they had heard the night before, while terrifying, had also given them some hope. If there were magical people in this town, then perhaps it would have drawn Voldemort's relatives to the quaint little town. They quickly packed up the tent and cast disillusionment charms on themselves. They didn't want to be seen suddenly appearing out of what would appear to be thin air. Just before Hermione started walking away, Draco grabbed her hand. Hermione stopped for a minute, looking towards their hands, but of course she couldn't see them. She glanced up, as if looking for an answer in Draco's features, which of course were invisible to her. Typical Malfoy, to do this when she can't even see him.

"Just so I know where I'm going." Draco clarified. Hermione nodded, still confused. He hated touching her, why would he initiate it even if it was necessity? Upon realizing that Draco couldn't see her nodding her head either, she hastily spoke.

"Yes, of course."

"Do you know where the library is?"

"Obviously." She said, her voice dripping with attitude.

"Okay. So just making sure, we're going to try to go in invisible, but if no one comes along for a while, we'll just use our disguises?"

"Yes Malfoy, is that really so hard to grasp?"

"Bloody hell Granger we're never going to get anything done if you keep acting like this." He said in an exasperated tone.

"If _I_ keep acting like this. Right. I'm not doing this right now. Let's just do what we came here to do." She said, dragging him along in the direction of the town. Malfoy decided not to dispute her, and just kept his mouth shut.

When they got to the town, they found that it was quite busy out.

"Of course, it's Saturday, the market would be today!" she said under her breath.

"Market?" Malfoy asked curiously.

"Another muggle thing." Hermione explained as they dodged people. They couldn't even brush up against anyone, as they were supposed to be invisible. The market would draw people in the town's centre, making it incredibly busy.

"Stay close." Hermione reminded him as they neared the library doors. Luckily for them, some one chose the moment they arrived to open the door to the library. Just before the door closed behind the lady walking in, Hermione yanked Draco inside too. They had just made it. Outside it had been noisy, covering up their footsteps and talking. Inside the library, it was painfully quiet. They were aware of ever rustle of clothing or accidentally loud footstep they made. Fortunately everyone in the small library was too engrossed in whatever they were reading to notice. Hermione dragged Draco through the library, heading to the area where she knew archives to be in most libraries.

"How'd you know where to go?" Draco asked her quietly.

"Look at who you're talking to Malfoy. I'm an 'insufferable know it all', of course I know my way around a library." She said with some venom in her words. "When no one's looking, cast a disillusionment charm on the book you want to use, THEN take it off the shelf. When you're finished put it right back, and take the charm off AFTER it's back on the shelf. Go back at least 50 years." She told him quietly, then she set about the same task. She had to be sure no one would see random books flying around, as they wouldn't be able to see Draco or Hermione. Hopefully they would be stealthy enough that no one would notice books seemingly disappear off the shelf.

They had been going through the archives for some time when Hermione heard a voice that made her freeze. It was the voice from last night. A wizard was in the library. What if they detected her and Malfoy? She leaned over to where she knew Malfoy to be and warned him as silently as possible. If an unexplainable noise was made, the man would run a detection spell and realize that there was some one concealed. He couldn't undo their disillusionment, only the caster could, but it would certainly be a nuisance.

"Hello Rose!" The voice said, nearing Draco and Hermione. "Do you mind if I go into the back room?" Hermione moved as silently as she could to get a better look. When she caught sight of the wizard, she looked closely to see if she could recognize him. She felt Draco near her, but didn't dare to move. Maybe he would be able to recognize him as the man knew his father by his first name.

"Of course Roger, go right in!" The lady behind the counter said with a smile. They watched with curiosity as the man walked into a room. Before he closed the door to the backroom, Hermione thought she caught a glimpse of a familiar book. She felt around for Draco's hand and pulled him back to their secluded corner.

"First of all, were you able to recognize him? I mean, now that we've got a better look at him?" She whispered.

"Nope. I've never seen him before."

"Okay. But listen Malfoy, we need to get into the backroom. I could have sworn I just saw _Hogwarts: A History_ in that room. It must be a room full of magic books. Maybe we'll find something in there." She whispered.

"Are you sure? You can't have gotten a good look." He said doubtfully.

"I know that book like the back of my hand." She assured him.

"What?" He asked confusedly.

"Muggle saying. Sorry. But anyways, the fact that a wizard interested in Death Eaters entered that room should be reason enough, don't you think?"

"I don't know Granger…" He said cautiously. He didn't like the thought of snooping around anymore than they had to. As cunning as Slytherins were, they didn't like to get into unnecessarily dangerous situations.

"Oh I wish Ron and Harry were here. They were always willing to go that extra bit further." She said, hoping to provoke him. Draco stiffened at being compared to those two who he loathed so much. He couldn't let them out do him. Plus, Hermione had a point. Things on dark wizards, or wizards at all, wouldn't be out in the open.

"Okay fine. Let's just finish with these first." He suggested.

"Fine." They continued flipping through the archives, looking for anything. Their search turned up nothing about the founders, the Marvolo's or anything they could relate to Voldemort.

"Ready?" Hermione whispered when she saw the last book reappear on the shelf.

"How're we going to get in? That guy is in there." Draco asked. He could almost hear Hermione rolling her eyes at him.

"He won't be in there forever. We can wait outside the door just like we did coming into the library. Come on." She said, finding his hand and quietly dragging him to the room's door. They stood outside the door for about five minutes before the door opened. Just as the man was about to close it, they slipped in right behind him. Their timing was impeccable.

"Jesus Granger how many times have you done this?" Draco asked her, surprised at how easily she was able to sneak around.

"I spent many nights sneaking around the castle with Ron and Harry. Many of our 'extra-curricular' activities required lots of extra research and snooping." She explained.

"Yeah but you got caught a lot. You can't have been that good." He said, scanning the shelves for anything useful. So far it was just average books that any magic library would have.

"Considering how many times we snuck out and around, we got caught very few times. We had a lot of close calls though." She said nonchalantly. She didn't need to mention that she had been scared out of her wits each time. She had always been terrified that she would get expelled. In her mind, it had been a fate worse than death.

"Snape was always grumbling about you three." Hermione laughed and Draco smiled at the beautiful sound. Wait, since when did anyone's laugh make Draco smile? All this time away from the Death Eaters and in the company of bloody Gryffindors was making him soft.

"He was usually the one that we just barely eluded. It drove him crazy." She told him. Thinking about Snape, Hermione suddenly became very sad. While she hadn't known it at the time, Snape was an amazing man. She always wished that she had been able to know the real him and not the one who had always made Harry's life a living hell. The lives that the war had claimed would always haunt her. Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Snape, Dumbledore and so many others. The names of those she loved rolled through her head. _Oh bloody hell. Not this again. Not here. Not now. Not infront of him._ Hermione thought, as she felt another bought of anxiety and crippling sadness coming on. She took a few deep breaths, trying to get it under control. She couldn't afford to have him see her break down again. She began searching the shelves to distract herself. Luckily for her, it actually worked. She didn't see anything that she hadn't read in the past.

"This is useless." Draco said after a few minutes.

"I had thought that we had gotten lucky or something. That maybe this would be over sooner than we thought." She said, sounding somewhat resigned.

"What's this?" Draco asked, holding up a book. "I've never seen it before."

"Oh, that's on the Deathly Hallows. He wouldn't make them into a horcrux, plus Harry has them all." She explained.

"What are they?" Draco asked curiously. Jesus, Granger was like an information vault.

"It's a long story, but basically there are three of them. There's the resurrection stone, which brings back an imitation of the dead. We have that where no one will find it. The invisibility cloak is another one, which was a huge part of our success in sneaking around. It had been Harry's dads. Then of course there's the elder wand. It actually belonged to you for some time." She said thoughtfully.

"The elder wand? I don't remember ever having it."

"It's a wand that basically cannot be beaten when it is with it's rightful owner. It belongs to whoever disarmed it's previous owner. When you disarmed Dumbledore the night he was… killed, it switched it's alliance to you, so it never really worked right for Voldemort after he stole it from Dumbledores tomb. Then when Harry disarmed you at…" She trailed off at the memory, not wanting to talk about it. That day haunted her the most out of the war. It was one of her most reoccurring nightmares. Her hatred for Malfoy in that moment almost blinded her. He had caused her so much pain. He was to blame for Dumbledore's murder and her horrendous torture. _Don't let it control you. Focus on the Horcrux. Come on Hermione. Drop it._ She told herself. When she finally got control, she continued slowly. "Well it became Harry's wand. Then he destroyed it." She said simply. She didn't want to talk anymore- especially to Malfoy.

"He just destroyed it? Just like that. He turned down the most powerful wand in the world?" Draco asked incredulously. Hermione cringed at how power-hungry Malfoy seemed. It made her anger towards him grow again.

"The world's better off without it." She told him coldly.

"But-"

"Shut up Malfoy." She interrupted angrily. Malfoy didn't say another word after that. He was curious about these Deathly Hallows, but he knew not to push her when they were in public. He wondered what had caused her change in demeanor, but he just quickly brushed it off.

"There's nothing here!" Hermione practically yelled in frustration.

"Jesus Granger keep your voice down." Malfoy hissed.

"I cast a silencing spell you dimwit." She snapped. "Ugh I had been so sure that we'd find something! This bloody town is useless." She groaned.

"Are you sure we saw all the books?" Malfoy asked carefully. Normally he would never be careful with her, but they were in too delicate a situation.

"Positive. There's noth-" But she cut off mid sentence.

"Granger?"

"Shh. There's some one at the door." She hissed at him. They stood perfectly still, praying that no one would come in. Hermione heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the door lock and footsteps walking away.

"Thank god we're just locked in. I thought for sure we'd get caught."

"Why don't we just apparate out now?" Hermione suggested.

"And go where exactly?"

"I don't know. I'll apparate us somewhere for the night then we can figure out where to go from there. Grab my arm." She suggested. Draco waved his hand in the direction of her voice to try and find her arm. He stopped when he felt her. All of a sudden, Hermione jumped back

"That's not my arm and you know it! You disgusting little ferret!" She yelled.

"Well it's not like I can see you Granger. You can't blame me for this." He said, trying to hide his embarrassment. He grinned a little at her obvious discomfort.

"Here." She said, snatching his arm and attaching his hand to her arm harshly. She turned, and with a pop they appeared in another forest.

"Where are we now?" Draco asked.

"Just some forest I read the name of on the map. I figured we might need a spot to spend the night." She told him as took off the disillusionment charm on herself and Malfoy and began setting up again. "Don't just stand there. Help me."

"Merlin Granger calm down." Draco said. He was just about fed up with her snappy attitude. He had been nice to her all day! Plus she had been equally as mean last night. They finished setting up the tent and casting the wards in silence and headed into the tent.

"So am I making supper myself tonight?" Draco asked, his voice dripping with attitude.

"Yup." She said simply, going about making her own dinner. Merlin it smelled good. Malfoy looked through the cupboards for something that looked easy to make. He began pulling out random things, planning to put them all together.

"What in Merlin's name do you plan on making with _that_." Granger said, looking at his ingredients with distaste.

"Food." He snapped.

"If you're so incompetent why don't you just make toast or something."

"I don't want toast."

"Alright. I'll enjoy watching you eat your… food. If you can even call it that." She told him. What was wrong with her today? Draco was just about ready to snap. He had thought that they agreed to be civil. She was hardly being civil. They continued making their own dinners, hers smelling amazing, Draco's looking awful. Hermione couldn't help but smile as she watched his face contort in disgust with every bite he took.

"What's that?" Draco asked. Hermione snapped back to reality. She had a habit of doing that, zoning out completely. It had only really been happening since the war. She would accidently close off into her own little world, oblivious to those around her until some one snapped her out of it. Hermione followed his gaze to her arm. Her left arm. Hermione hastily covered up her arm, not wanting to look at it herself, let alone let Malfoy see it. It was partially his fault that it was there anyways. The anger was almost blinding again. The reference to that awful day twice in one day was almost too much. She knew that she'd need a really strong silencing charm on her room tonight.

"Nothing." She said. She got up, vanished the food on her plate and walked to her room. Draco watched her go, extremely curious. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw a _d_ carved into her arm.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Draco woke up twisted in his sheets, and sweating profusely. The nightmares had started up again. He had been so distracted recently with Granger and the horcrux that he hadn't had them in a while, but it appeared as if they were back and more vivid than ever.

_"Draco my boy, are you ready to accept this lifestyle? Are you prepared to put your life on the line for the cause?" Voldemort asked him. No, he wasn't. He didn't want to become a murderer. He didn't want any of it. He looked at his parents. His father had a look of pure pride on his face, his mother had a look of terror. She faintly nodded her head, and that was all the push he needed._

_ "Yes." Draco said finally. Voldemort smiled his grotesque smile at Draco. He put his arm forwards and Voldemort plunged his wand into Draco's arm. The pain was immense. It felt like his arm was on fire. He fought the urge to pull his arm back and to yell. He had to appear strong. Voldemort removed his wand and the burning began to subside, incredibly slowly._

_ "Welcome Draco." Voldemort smiled. Draco sank to his knee and bowed his head, honouring the Dark Lord. "Your first task is to kill that pesky old Headmaster of yours. Should you fail to kill Dumbledore, your parents will be killed."_

Draco shook his head. He had sacrificed himself, his soul for his parents. He had given them everything, only to end up taking it all away from them again. What a waste. But he couldn't let them continue on taking so much from innocent people. At least Draco hadn't been innocent, his soul already damaged due to his actions. Draco knew that sleep would not come easily to him again, so he got up to get something to eat. As he left his room, he became aware that the lights in the common area were on. This struck his as odd, seeing as it was really late at night. As he scanned the room, he saw Granger curled up in a chair, sipping butterbeer.

"What are you doing up?" He asked. Hermione glanced up at him, scowled and returned to her book. "Granger. I asked you a question."

"I don't need to explain myself to you Malfoy. But I couldn't sleep."

"Was that so hard?" He asked, heading towards their kitchenette.

"Why are you up?" She asked him.

"I couldn't sleep. Do we have any dreamless sleep potion?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. The last thing he needed was her knowing about his nightmares.

"What would you need dreamless sleep potion for?" She asked.

"So that I can sleep obviously." He said, trying to hide the truth behind his attitude.

"We have sleeping draught to help with that." She informed him, speaking as if he was the daftest person on earth. To cover his tracks, he nodded and pretended to begin searching for it. Her head was buried in her book again, so she wouldn't notice that he never took it. He grabbed some food and a glass of pumpkin juice then headed back to bed.

"Good night Granger!" He called as he walked back to his room. Of course she would ruin his night. Now he had to pretend to go to sleep! He sighed and got back into bed. He stared at the tent ceiling, thinking about everything, trying to push Granger and their mission from his thoughts. His idle thoughts were interrupted by an ear-piercing scream. Fearing that some one had broken the wards and was attacking, he raced into the common room, wand drawn. When he looked around, upon realizing that everything was in order, he relaxed. Until his eyes fell on the bushy haired girl on the sofa. She was still screaming a horrendous scream, her face contorted in agony. But she was asleep. He lowered his wand, stunned at the sight in front of him. Granger, who almost always had it together, was suffering from night terrors. He had chalked up her little anxiety spell to her fight with Ron, but this was obviously much deeper. His heart melted a little at the sight of her so vulnerable and in pain. When the shock of it all had worn off, he rushed over to her.

"Hermione. Hermione please wake up. You're okay. It's just a dream" He told her urgently. He pushed some of the hair back from her face. She looked like she was in such pain it nearly broke his heart. He vaguely recognized this scene from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. Realizing that she wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, he sat on the sofa and did the only thing he could think of. He pulled the screaming know-it-all into his arms and gently rocked her, stroking her hair and whispering to her softly. Slowly her screams lessened, as did the pain apparent on her face. He continued to hold her until eventually her screams were just moans and small cries. It was then that he allowed himself to fall asleep.

Hermione awoke to the sound of a male's snoring early in the morning. She opened her eyes, confused as to where she was. As she looked around, she became aware of the strong arms wrapped tightly around her and the events of the night came rushing back. She must have fallen asleep on the sofa and had a nightmare. Of course she wouldn't have cast a silencing charm, so Malfoy must have heard her screaming and come out to see what was going on. What she was doing in his arms was beyond her though. She felt oddly comfortable in his embrace, and just lay allowing herself a few guilty minutes. Then she remembered her nightmare- and that Malfoy was to blame for it. She twisted away from him and practically leapt across the room. How could she have enjoyed being in the arms of some one so vile? Sure she had been nice to him for a while, but that was just because things needed to get done. She could be somewhat civil, but she would never allow herself to be in that position again. Ever. Malfoy woke up at her abrupt movements and groggily looked around. When his eyes fell on Hermione's murderous glare, he sat up.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" She demanded.

"You were screaming and so I just- You wouldn't stop." He explained lamely.

"So you decided it would be a good idea to hold me?"

"I decided it would be a good idea to contain your thrashing about so you wouldn't fall off the couch." He corrected. Okay so maybe he had been holding her, but if this was how she was reacting he wasn't about to let her know that.

"Well maybe you should have just minded your own business. I can handle myself." She snapped.

"Oh I will from now on. If this is how you repay people who help you then no wonder the Weasel left you." He yelled. She was such an ungrateful little bitch! Her face registered hurt at his comment, then rage.

"Help me? You think that you helped me? You're one of the bloody reasons why it happens in the first place! If you had just stopped it, or lied to them about us, then maybe I wouldn't be this way." She yelled, her voice catching a little at the end of her sentence. Draco stopped short. Of course. He had seen that look on her face when Bellatrix had been torturing her at the Malfoy Manor.

"If you had just had the courage to stop her, or at least lie and let us go, this wouldn't be happening!" She cried. So that was why she was being like this. He was at a loss for words. He felt absolutely terrible.

"I would be able to sleep soundly at night. I wouldn't be so bloody different. And maybe I wouldn't have this constant and painful reminder of the whole reason it happened- Something I have no bloody control over. But it is something that has plagued me ever since second year. When _you_ called me it. I have never, and will never be free of the fact that I'm a muggle-born." She cried, drawing up her sleeve to reveal the horrible scar that his aunt had given her. On her left arm read the word _mudblood. _He had seen the 'd' last night, no wonder she stormed off when he mentioned it. He looked away, unable to look at the scar on her arm. It was a horrible reminder to him as well, of the coward that he was.

"Hermione I-" He started.

"Don't. I know that you were raised that way. I know that you will never change. It's who you are. You're nothing but a coward and a pureblood death eater. You'll never learn that our blood is the same. It doesn't make me any less magical than you, or any less talented, or any less of a person." She said. Her words hurt him more than he could fathom. No one's words had affected him this way, not even his fathers. She was speaking the words that he thought of himself, but it hurt so much more coming from her. Apparently Hermione took his silence as defiance though, because she drew her wand. Malfoy put his hands up to show his harmlessness. Was Hermione actually going to hurt him?

"You don't believe me do you? What will it take for you to see that I'm a bloody person Malfoy!" With that, she traced a line across her hand with her wand. Draco watched in horror as blood poured out of the gash.

"Do you see now? Our blood is the same! There's no mud in there, it's the same as yours. It's just blood." She continued. Draco looked away from the blood trailing down her hand, unable to face the truth.

"Look at it Malfoy! I need you to see that my blood is no different from yours, aside from the fact that it doesn't make me feel entitled to the whole bloody world. I'm a fucking person too." She yelled. Her voice cracked on the last word, and she broke down.

Hermione rarely broke down at all let alone in front of people, but something inside her had snapped. She needed to let it all out in a way that would actually work. She had needed to release her pent up anger and sadness that had been building up for years. The Gryffindor golden girl was unraveling right before Draco Malfoy's eyes. If this was the first time she had let go completely, then he was surprised she had lasted this long. He admired her strength at having lasted so long without breaking after all she had been through, and he admired her for not letting her blood status ruin her life like he had. He felt the strange urge to go over and hug her, to make her feel better, but he knew that he couldn't. He was the reason that she was so distraught; going near her would only make things worse. She had saved his life, and all he had done for her was cause her pain. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't just walk away from her, not when she was hurting so much. He took a step towards her, but she backed away from him, tears still streaming down her face, blood still dripping down her hand and arm. He took another step towards her, and she backed up into the side of the tent.

"Don't touch me." She warned him. He ignored her and grabbed her hand. He traced his wand along her cut, muttering the incantation to heal cuts. Hermione tried to yank her hand away, but he was much stronger and held it in place. When he was finished, he released her hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to hurt anymore because of me." He told her, then walked away. Hermione stood there, stunned for a moment. Then she picked up the thing nearest to her and hurled it at him. It was her copy of _Hogwarts: A History. _Hermione winced a little bit at hurting the book, but felt satisfied when it hit him in the back. Draco stopped for a second and looked back at her. Hermione was puzzled when she saw the look in his eyes, but he turned away and continued back to his room. She stood there, tears still streaming down her face, the blood beginning to dry on her arm, trying to figure out Draco Malfoy. She hated him more than anything, but there was something about him that seemed different. The look in his eyes was haunting to Hermione. There was so much darkness there that she couldn't place the emotions. Nonetheless, her feelings towards him hadn't changed. She still blamed him for her pain and suffering, and the pain and suffering of her loved ones. But deep down she knew that it wasn't really his fault- she just needed some one to blame. It gave her an outlet for her pent up emotions, which desperately needed an escape, and she could rationalize her outburst because he could have potentially prevented everything that had happened to her.

"I hate you!" She screamed after him, followed by a colourful string of hateful words. Then she collapsed to the floor in an exhausted and emotional wreck. Draco heard her yelling from his room, but it didn't really phase him. It was nothing that he wasn't already saying to himself anyhow.

When he got back into his room, he just laid on his bed and listened to Hermione's crying, wishing that he could do something about it. He didn't want her to hurt anymore. He didn't want to cause _anyone_ pain anymore. He had done enough of that in his past, something that he deeply regretted.

He thought back to the day that the horrid Fenrir Greyback had brought Hermione and her friends back to the Manor. He had been so torn about what to do. If he flat out lied to the Death Eaters and they later found out, he would be killed- or worse, his mother would be. If he had told them the truth, the Dark Lord would have surely been summoned and they would be killed. He forced himself to watch Hermione's torture so that he wouldn't be perceived as weak by the others. Looking back, this made him more weak than he had realized. Watching Hermione, one of the strongest people he knew, scream out in agony was one of the hardest things he's ever had to see- and he's seen a lot of horrible things. When she looked up at him with pleading eyes, he almost broke and tried to force Bellatrix to stop. But he knew that his mother's life was on the line and the Hermione was strong, so he didn't do anything. When Hermione pleaded for death, his instincts screamed for him to do something, but his mother grabbed his hand and he stopped himself yet again. Watching Hermione's torture was so scarring for Draco that he still had nightmares about it, so he couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her.

Draco decided that he couldn't just sit there and do nothing while Hermione was suffering in the next room over. He had no idea what he could do seeing as she hated him so much- not that he blamed her. He decided on just going out and making sure she was alright. When he walked out into the common area, his heart broke at what he saw. Hermione was lying on the ground in a fetal position, clutching her left arm and crying quietly.

"Hermione?" Draco said quietly. He wasn't quite sure why he used her first time, or why he spoke to her at all. Her head snapped up, and she wiped her tears and uncurled herself. He admired her strength and her will to not show weakness.

"What do you want Malfoy? The shows over." She spat.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay I guess." He said nervously. Why was he saying all this? He didn't want to make her hurt anymore, but he didn't actually care about her! Right? Hermione let out a short laugh.

"Stop pretending Malfoy, I'm not stupid. You couldn't care less about me. You've proved that time and time again." Malfoy tensed at her words. He wished he could take everything he'd done back- and not just to her. He wished he could take back every bad deed he'd ever done, and there were quite a few.

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my time- I know that. I- I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you in the past I guess." He forced out. It wasn't easy for him to show any emotion or care, so it was especially difficult for him to apologize. But this was something he had to do. He was going to try to fix things; he was just going to have to be in baby steps.

"Well I don't need your bullshit apologies." Malfoy nodded.

"I wouldn't accept them either." He said before turning around and walking away. At least he had tried.

A/N: Okay, so I know that this is out of character for Hermione, but it just had to be done. She'll be back to herself soon enough! Let me know what you thought of all this, I'm kind of worried about how it came out! **Review Review Review please!** Thanks :))


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry I took so long to upload this! And I'm sorry it's so short. It's kind of a filler chapter I guess. Hermione needed some character redemption. Hopefully this gives some insight into how shitty Draco's life currently is. Anyways, Enjoy! and pleaasseeee Review!

Chapter 10

"Good morning." Hermione said cheerfully.

"Er… Good morning…" said Draco carefully.

"Listen I'm really sorry about last night. I guess I just kind of snapped, and I think that I was still a little bit caught up in my nightmare." She explained.

"I don't blame you." He told her. After a slight hesitation he asked; "So what was your nightmare about?"

Hermione looked embarrassed at first, then pained and looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it." She told him. That confirmed his suspicions. She had definitely been dreaming about that terrible day at the Manor. This fact began to eat away at Draco's conscience.

"Of course. Sorry for asking." Draco said. Hermione turned back around and smiled. Draco had been with her long enough to see how forced it was, but he admired her for trying so hard.

"Well that's enough of that. Where to next?" Hermione asked.

"Well I supposed we should just move onto the next town and hope that something turns up." Draco suggested.

And so they did. But there wasn't anything there. Or in the next town. Or the next few after that. After a few weeks Hermione and Draco were becoming incredibly frustrated. They hadn't come across anymore wizarding towns, and there was nothing related to Voldemort in the muggle towns that they searched through. It was possible that they had missed something, or had been looking in the wrong places, but they couldn't come up with an alternate plan for the time being. Although Draco and Hermione had agreed to put their differences behind them, they were also both incredibly tense. Draco was scared of saying something wrong to hurt her again, and Hermione still felt uncomfortable around Draco for obvious reasons. This all resulted in them both feeling isolated and lonely. There had been no catalyst in their relationship to bring them closer, or push them even further apart. They were stuck in an awkward phase where neither really knew how to act around the other. Their mission had actually become quite monotonous as it passed without incident.

"Granger." Draco whispered a few weeks after the Hermione's melt down.

"Yes?" She said.

"Do you hear that?" Hermione listened closely, not hearing anything for a minute. Then she heard it- voices. They knew that their wards were secure, but that didn't take away from their fear of being discovered.

"I think that Paul McCartney did actually die in that car accident and they replaced him. If you play some of their songs backwards there's hidden messages to prove it. It's all just one big conspiracy so that they could continue to make money." One voice said. The other made a noise of agreement, but clearly wasn't too caught up in the conversation.

"They're muggles." Hermione told Draco, relieved. The muggle repelling charms would push them away, and even if they didn't, Hermione and Draco could easily pass for a couple out camping- as much as Hermione hated the thought.

"How do you know?"

"They're talking about The Beatles- a muggle band from the 1960's. They were brilliant, but wizards don't listen to them." Hermione explained. Draco nodded in understanding.

"Oh what a pretty owl! I've never seen a snowy owl around here before." The voice said again. Hermione's head snapped up. There weren't many snowy owls around. Unless it was all just a coincidence that a rare snowy owl happened to be just outside of Draco and Hermione's wards, Hedwig had found Hermione. She poked her head out of the tent to check. She figured that if the pair hadn't noticed the tent, then it was safe to poke her head outside. It was definitely Hedwig, perched on a branch just outside the wards. Hermione's face broke out into a huge smile. She had no idea how, but Hedwig had found them! She was stunned, but then again she had always known that Hedwig was special.

"Yes. It's beautiful. But can we please keep going? I have to drive Katie to ballet tonight." said the second voice. So the muggle charms did work! They were meant to remind the muggle of a pressing matter that needed their attention in the opposite direction of the wards. Clearly the wards were kicking in.

"Oh right." Said the first, and then walked away. When Hermione was sure that they were out of sight and ear shot, she raced to the edge of the wards.

"Granger what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Draco called after her.

"It's Harry's owl! It's Hedwig!" She expclaimed. She stepped outside of the wards, and Hedwig swooped down and landed on Hermione's outstretched arm. She brought Hedwig back into the wards and took the letter from his leg, racing inside to read it. Hedwig followed- he must have been given order's not to leave without a letter.

_Hermione,_

_I know it's unlikely that Hedwig would find you as I'm sure your wards are impeccable, but I thought it would be worth a try. If you get this, please reply so that I know we can keep in touch and that you're okay. I hate the thought of you out there alone with Malfoy and Merlin knows what else. I miss you so much, so does Ron… not that he'd admit it. He spends all his time sulking about, even though it's his fault that you two had a row. We're not making much progress here, hopefully you and Malfoy are doing better. Let us know! We're all anxious to find out. I'm going to try to convince Ron to apologize to you, but you know how stubborn he can be. Hopefully he gets it through his thick head that he needs you. Anyways, attached is the fake Galleon that we used in fifth year for Dumbledore's Army. Instead of a time, think your location and it will show up on the Galleon that I have. I will show up to said location to help you out with a bunch of other Auror's should you get into trouble or find anything. Only use it for emergencies that need immediate attention though. _

_Please write back! _

_Love, Harry_

Hermione found herself almost crying as she read the note. She missed Harry so much it almost hurt, the painful reminder of her fight with Ron also made her somewhat upset. But she was also feeling emotional because she was ecstatic to find that she could communicate with her best friend now. Perhaps this would help to end the immense feeling of loneliness that followed her around throughout Scotland.

"What is it?" Draco asked, curious as to what could make Hermione so happy. He hadn't seen her smile in weeks, and he found that he loved seeing her so happy.

"Harry. He found a way to contact me. Oh Malfoy, you have no idea how exciting this is." She said excitedly. Malfoy felt a pang of loneliness. There was no one for him to write to- no one who would even want to hear from him. He was sure that no one would care if died on this mission.

"That's great, but I was talking about the bundle attached to it." He said.

"Oh! Remember in fifth year when you worked so hard to find out where and when our Dumbledore's Army meetings would be?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded confusedly. "Well this is how we decided on meeting times. I would change the times on this Galleon and it would alert all the members."

"Can I see it?" Draco asked. Hermione pushed the fake Galleon towards him, watching him carefully. It wasn't something she could afford to lose. "It's brilliant! Who came up with the idea?"

"I did." Hermione said, blushing at Malfoy's praise. Wait- why would she blush at that? Hermione raised her head up confidently to cover it up.

"It's a brilliant idea. No wonder we had such a hard time figuring out a pattern to your meeting times! There was none."

"Oh, thank you." Hermione said, blushing a little bit again. What in Merlin's name was wrong with her?

"So how did the owl find us?" Draco asked curiously. He figured that if their wards were human proof, then surely they must be owl proof too.

"I don't know. Hedwig's a very special owl. He was always able to find Sirius when he was on the run too." Hermione told him. She felt a twinge of sadness when she thought of Sirius as she had come to really care for him over the few years that she knew him. She admired his loyalty above all else. Bellatrix was to blame for that loss too.

"Sirius Black? I thought he was trying to kill Harry that whole time." Draco asked. Hermione forgot that everyone at Hogwarts must have so many unanswered questions about the trio's adventures throughout the years and often spoke as if they knew everything. Most people vaguely knew of the trio's adventures, but they never heard the full story, and sometimes never knew the outcome.

"Oh no. He was always trying to kill Peter Pettigrew for turning in the Potter's. You see, he asked Wormtail to be secret keeper in the hopes of bettering the Potter's protection. Wormtail then cut off his own finger after he killed all those innocent people to cover his crimes. In the middle of all the commotion, he switched into his animagus form of a rat and stayed that way until third year. He was actually Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. So Sirius was after Wormtail that entire time for revenge, not after Harry. It's all very complicated." Hermione told him.

"Sounds it. Wormtail would be Peter Pettigrew I assume?"

"Oh yes. Sorry, I'm so used to calling him by his nickname. Anyways, I'm going to write back to Harry. Was there anyone that you wanted to write to? I'm sure that Harry wouldn't mind passing the letter along." Hermione offered in an attempt to be nicer.

"No… I don't really have anyone to write to." Draco told her. Hermione was taken aback at his honesty and stared at him in disbelief.

"But there must be some one!" She exclaimed. Draco shook his head.

"Pansy?" Hermione asked, assuming they might have continued their school days romance.

"She was killed trying to switch to your side." Draco said emotionlessly.

"I didn't know she tried to switch!"

"Father killed her before she could get very far." He sounded like he was talking about the weather. Hermione was stunned by how desensitized to death he was.

"Oh. Well what about Crabbe and Goyle?"

"One died in the fire that he set himself- remember that time when you saved us in the room of requirement?"

"How could I forget! Of course, we only got two of you out."

"Yes. And the other ended up killing himself. He was holding his wand backwards whilst trying to kill a muggle."

"What an idiot. I guess something along those lines was bound to happen sometime, he really wasn't the brightest. Well what about Blaise Zabini?"

"He died the same way Pansy did." Draco said. Hermione marveled at his strength. He had no one in the world who cared about him, yet he was still able to keep his cool- which was more than she could say for herself. She also felt bad for him. Despite his past, he had an especially tragic present.

"I'm so sorry Draco." She said quietly. Draco? When had he become Draco? Just last night she had lost her marbles at him- something she still hadn't gotten over. Draco looked at her quizzically, but smiled his thanks.

"I'm sure Harry would pass a letter alone to your parents… despite the circumstances." Hermione offered. Draco scoffed.

"I might as well not have parents. They disowned me as soon as they realized what I had done. Just as well though- Father was barking mad." Said Draco. He tried to sound blasé, but Hermione noticed that he turned away when he spoke of his parents to hide his emotion. She also noticed that he hadn't mentioned his mother. He knew that he and his mother had been close- Harry told her about how Narcissa saved him to find her son.

"I don't have parents either." Hermione said before she thought about it. Why was she telling him this? Perhaps she was prompted by his heartbreaking honesty and his loneliness.

"What happened to them?" Draco asked, sincerity written all over his face.

"Before I left to go search for horcruxes, I erased myself from their memories. For all they new, they never had a daughter. I thought I'd be keeping them safe. Just before they left for Australia Bellatrix found them. She knew if she found me she'd find Harry. She took their ignorance for defiance and… she killed them." Hermione said quietly. Her eyes began to water and she quickly wiped any tears away. She felt so guilty. If she had only sent them away sooner, or maybe if she had just let them know about her mission, they would have been spared.

"Bellatrix really buggered up your life." Draco said simply. Hermione forced out a short laugh.

"Well if that isn't the understatement of the century."

"I'm sorry for all my aunt has done to you."

"You don't need to apologize for her. It's not like you were the one to kill them." Hermione said, careful to avoid any mention of all that he could have prevented- namely Dumbledore's death and her torture.

"Still though. I'm sorry." He said sincerely. Hermione gave him a reassuring smile and went about the kitchen, trying to distract herself as she remembered who she was talking to. As bad as she felt for him, she couldn't just forgive him everything like that. She didn't wish that amount of loneliness and pain on anyone, but she couldn't just pretend as if the past hadn't happened. Although she understood him better now, she couldn't put it all behind her. However, this also meant she couldn't heal.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

In the days following the reception of Harry's first letter, Hermione had taken to sitting outside and reading so that she could watch for Hedwig. It had been three days and so far there had been no reply.

"Granger I'm sure you'll be able to hear the owl or something. You don't need to sit in the cold all day." Draco called from inside the tent.

"I like it out here!" Hermione lied. It was absolutely freezing out, and not in the least bit pleasant. Hermione felt uneasy inside though, as if she might miss Hedwig completely.

"Bullocks Granger." Draco said, poking his head out of the tent. Hermione smiled a little bit, admitting defeat.

"Yeah it's freezing." She admitted.

"Then why are you still out here?" He asked, sitting down her.

"I can't stand to miss Hedwig. The thought terrifies me." She admitted to him.

"They mean that much to you?" Draco asked. He was baffled that some one could care so much about some one else. Hermione smiled a little and looked away, trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes. She missed Ron and Harry so much it hurt.

"We've been through everything together. I mean, me and Ron are engaged. And Harry is like family to me." She explained.

"My friends were imbeciles. Except for Blaise. I genuinely liked him. But Crabbe and Goyle were more like insurance than anything. And Pansy was just a convenient fuck whenever I wanted." Draco told her honestly. Hermione was taken aback at his language and brutal honesty.

"I never really got to know Blaise." Hermione said, ignoring his comment about Pansy.

"He was a great guy. He was Slytherin through and through, but he was still a good guy. He was actually smart too." Malfoy was with a smile, remembering his days with Blaise. He was one of the few people who actually got Draco. He was some one Draco didn't have to pretend around. Hermione smiled at seeing Draco reminisce about something that actually made him happy.

"He was one of the few Slytherins who never called me a mudblood. It made him stand out." Hermione said. Draco smirked.

"So it wasn't his good looks that got your attention?" Draco teased. Hermione laughed, causing Draco to smile.

"Yes I suppose that did play a big part in it as well." Hermione admitted. She felt a little odd talking so easily with Malfoy, but at the same time it kind of felt nice.

"All the girls loved him." Draco smiled.

"I seem to remember that almost the entire female population of our school was nursing a crush on you. If you weren't such a prat I'm sure you could have gotten almost any girl in the school." Hermione told him. Draco smirked at her.

"Almost?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"There were a few of us who could not stand you." Hermione told him simply.

"Us being?"

"Well me of course. How could I possibly feel anything for you after you had always been so horrible to me? And then there was Ginny. She thought you were a downright horrible git as well. I don't think Luna was too fond of you either. Then there's-"

"Okay, I'm sure my ego can't take much more." Draco laughed, holding up a hand. Hermione smiled at the rare sound of his laughter. She paused for a minute.

"Why were you such an arrogant prat?" She asked him curiously. Draco thought for a minute.

"I guess because it's what was expected of me. As a Malfoy and as a Slytherin I had to do it. It's what I grew up knowing, and all through my schooling I was rewarded for being a horrible person." He told her.

"Maybe if you had been Harry's friend when you originally met things would have been different." Hermione mused. Draco gave a sad smile.

"Do you really think that my father would have allowed that? I would have been an orphan by eleven."

"It's really too bad that you were raised in such an awful home."

"My mother was great, she was just in love with, and terrified of my father. My father on the other hand…" Draco said with a shrug. He wasn't really ready to talk about his previous home life.

"I really thought that after the war maybe your parents would see reason. I don't know, after everything that Voldemort put them through I just don't get it."

"I hoped so too." Draco said with a barely perceptible hint of sadness. Hermione gave him a small smile and then looked back out to the forrest.

"You're different."

"How so?" He asked.

"You're nicer. More peaceful. I don't know. You're just different."

"I guess I've just grown up. And now that I'm free of my father's influence I've been able to reevaluate my beliefs."

"Your beliefs on blood status?" Hermione questioned bravely, bracing herself for his answer. Draco hesitated, not quite sure what to say. He wasn't quite sure what to believe anymore. He had grown up believing one thing, but Hermione proved all he had ever known wrong.

"I don't really know." He told her honestly. Hermione nodded.

"Well I guess it's progress." She said diplomatically, looking out into the forest again. She leapt up when she saw the flutter of white approaching.

"He's here! He found us again!" She exclaimed, racing to the spot where Hedwig was waiting. She brought Hedwig back into the wards and raced to the tent to open up the letter from Harry.

_Hermione,_

_ It's so incredible to hear from you. It's such a relief to know that you're safe. I had been so worried for you. I cannot tell you how excited I was that Hedwig found you. I'm baffled as to how, but I'm so very pleased to be able to keep in contact. We're still not making much progress here, hopefully you guys turn something up soon. Ginny and I are great. We haven't set a wedding date yet, as we wanted to wait for your return. It wouldn't feel right without you. Everyone at the Auror's office sends their best as well as Teddy and all the Weasley's. _

Hermione grinned at all this happy news. She was so relieved to be kept up to date on everyone's lives, and to know that everyone is safe. She wiped some tears of happiness away before she continued to read.

_ I know that now it's probably the worst time for me to tell you this, and I really didn't want to. But I felt as if you had to know. It wouldn't be fair to you if I kept it from you, and Ginny agrees that you need to be told. I just hope that you'll be okay without me and Gin there to help you through it, and I hope that it won't deter your focus. Oh well, I guess I'd better just come out and say it… Ron is seeing Lavender again. Everyone has tried to make him see reason, but he's in one of his states. He's angry and not thinking clearly. I'm really sorry Hermione. I think he's a right foul git for it, his family agrees. I hope you'll be okay. Just know that I love you._

_ Love, Harry_

Tears began to pour down Hermione's face as she read the last portion of the letter. She had to re-read it to make sure that it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her. She put the letter down with shaky hands and got up and started pacing. Her mind was racing at lightning speed, full of angry and hurt thoughts. She didn't understand how Ron could do this to her. He had no right to be angry at her what so ever. It wasn't her fault, and he was being completely irrational, right? Maybe if she had just stayed home, refused the mission or something… she thought. But then the logical part of her brain kicked in, telling her that the wizarding world needed this horcrux destroyed, that it was her duty. She picked up the nearest object and hurled it across the room in a fit of anger. She heard a satisfying smash, but didn't look to see the damage and continued pacing, raking her fingers through her hair.

"Hermione?" Draco asked timidly, using her first name. Hermione's head snapped up at her name, but she hardly saw the face infront of her. The tears came harder until she was sobbing.

"He's back with her!" She sobbed. Malfoy looked confused.

"What?"

"Ron! He's back with Lavender! The bastard is supposed to be my fiancé! How could he do this? It's not fair. What did I do wrong?" Hermione cried. Draco walked towards Hermione cautiously, ducking as she chucked a couple more things across the room. He grabbed her wrist and pried the drinking glass from her fingers before leading her over to the sofa. He sat her down and sat down beside her, not really knowing what to do.

"He's an huge tosser, and she's an ugly slut." Malfoy told her, using muggle swears to get his point across. He didn't really know what to say to calm Hermione down.

"I love him!" She cried, throwing herself onto Draco's shoulder. Draco froze, he had no idea what to do. Hermione was completely hysterical, and he had never been good with crying women- especially one's that he had spent most of his life hating.

"He was supposed to love me too." Hermione said softly into his shoulder. Draco gave in at hearing her broken voice and wrapped his arms around her, holding her while she cried into his shoulder.

"Shh… It's okay. You'll be okay." He whispered into her hair, as it was all he could really see. He knew that she would be too. She was one of the strongest people he knew, despite her occasional breakdowns. Right now she was just in shock, and when she snapped out of it, she would compose herself and go on as if nothing had ever happened. Draco was surprised to find that he was actually angry at the Weasel. He couldn't believe that Ron could be such an idiot as to let Hermione go like that. He was angry at Ron for hurting her.

Draco sat there for a while, rubbing Hermione's back while she cried into his shoulder. Eventually the sobbing subsided and Hermione sat up. Her hair was disheveled and her face was red and blotchy. She looked a right mess, but she somehow managed to smile.

"Thank you Malfoy. I really needed that." She said. Draco was baffled by her quick turnaround. One minute she was lost in sorrow, the next she was smiling. This woman never failed to surprise him.

"Anytime." He said. He looked away, not wanting to meet her teary eyes. "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh yes that would be lovely. I'll just go get cleaned up." She said. Draco was stunned. She had been a right mess not even a minute ago, and now she was all polite and composed. He didn't understand. When she returned she looked much better. Her hair had been contained again and her eyes, while still a little red and teary, were not puffy anymore.

"How do you do it?" He asked, setting her cup of tea infront of her.

"How do I do what?" She asked.

"One minute you can be a complete wreck and the next you're so… composed. I don't understand how it's possible."

"Oh. I don't know. I'm a passionate person. When I feel things, they're extreme. But I'm also very rational, so I guess I feel the need to reign things in eventually." She said, not really understanding it herself.

"It's really quite impressive." Draco commended.

"Coming from the man who never shows emotion ever, that's quite high praise."

"You're strong enough to let yourself feel. I push all my emotions away. That's the difference." He told her honestly. Hermione found herself wondering when they had gotten to the point where they could sit and talk about their feelings. She chuckled to herself, she was talking about her feeling with Draco Malfoy. The thought was completely absurd!

"What?" Draco asked, confused at her giggle. He smiled at her amusement.

"Well it's just… if some one had told me a few months ago that I would be sitting talking about my feelings with Draco Malfoy, I'm sure I would have had them admitted to St. Mungo's. Yet here are." She said. Draco smirked.

"It really is kind of weird, looking at how much we hated each other."

"Even when you arrived at the ministry, pledging your allegiance to our side I wouldn't have believed it." She said with a disbelieving shake of her head.

"When I came to the ministry, I was still a proverbial fence sitter. I still kind of believed in my old ways, but I hated the extremity of it. I didn't really know you I guess. I was jumping to conclusions." He explained.

"And you don't believe in your old ways now?" She asked.

"Like I said before, I don't know what to believe." Hermione nodded.

"It amazes me that you just found out that your fiancé is with some one else, yet you can sit here and talk about my beliefs with me." He said to her. Hermione gave a sad smile.

"I guess it helps me take my mind off of it. That's what I really need. I can't dwell on it or else I'll get distracted from the mission." Draco smirked his Slytherin smirk at her, and she dreaded his next comment.

"I'm sure I can think of more than a few ways to keep your mind of the Weasel." Hermione chucked a pillow at him and laughed.

"And what would all your Slytherin friends think of that? Draco Malfoy, the pureblood, sleeping with Hermione Granger, the know-it-all bookworm mudblood." Hermione said with a little laugh. Draco smirked, then his face turned dark.

"Don't call yourself that." He said.

"You did." She countered.

"That's different."

"How?"

"I was stupid. I hated you at the time."

"And you don't now?" She asked after a minute. Draco paused, unsure of how to answer that. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about Hermione. He didn't know how he felt about her blood status. All he knew was that she was messing with his head, like since when did Draco Malfoy smile at hearing some one laugh, or grow angry at them being hurt?

"No. I don't." He said after a little while. Hermione gave a small smile.

"I don't hate you either."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. This is somewhat of another filler chapter, but I prefer to see it as a developmental chapter. I'm not sure how I like it though, I feel almost as if I'm betraying Draco's character by him being so nice all of a sudden, but at the same time I can't portray him as the asshole that he's always seemed if I want to write a Dramione. I'm also worried that I'm making Hermione seem soft, but at the same time I can't expect her to be indifferent to news of Ron and her nightmares right? I don't know, what do you guys think? Also, what do you guys think of the rate that their relationship is developing? Is it okay with you guys? Please let me know! Review please my dears, it inspires me to write more! Thanks :)


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hey! Sorry it's been so long. I've been pretty swamped with school and basketball. It might be like another week before I can post again since I'll be in Montreal for a basketball tournament! Sorry guys!

Chapter 12

"Hurry up Malfoy!" Hermione called from the common area of their tent.

"I'm coming! Don't get your knickers in a bunch." He teased as he came out of the bathroom sporting a new look.

"Much better than the first one." Hermione commended. His hair was now blonde, but not the platinum blonde that it naturally was, he had some facial hair and green eyes as opposed to the distinctive silver that he had before. It was much better than the jet black that he had opted for the first time. Hermione on the other hand, had turned her hair blonde and straight and her eye's a bright blue. She looked really different, and actually quite pretty she thought.

"I thought so." Draco agreed, admiring his work in the mirror. Hermione didn't see him quickly appraise her new look with an approving look on his face.

"Alright enough of your vanity, we have to get a move on!" Hermione exclaimed, grabbing his hand and tugging him outside. She was pleased to see that Draco no longer flinched at her touch, but instead obliged and followed her outside. She quickly dismantled the tent and stored it in her never-ending bag. Once they left, the wards would be broken and the forest seemingly undisturbed.

"I was thinking perhaps we should just walk. It's not far at all." Hermione suggested.

"Some one too sissy for apparition?" Draco teased. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"No, it's just not that far and it's a beautiful day out. So why would we go through unpleasant apparition when we can have a pleasant walk?" Hermione reasoned. Draco smirked at her.

"Alright. Let's go." He said, heading off in the direction of the library. They walked in silence most of the way, but it wasn't the awkward silence that could sometimes occur, it was more of a companionable silence. Hermione was enjoying the scenery in the pretty town while Draco was lost in thought. It was rather pleasant for both of them, as neither felt any pressure to carry on a conversation or impress the other.

All of a sudden Hermione had the uneasy feeling that they were being watched. Years of fighting the dark sight had honed what she called her 'spidey-senses'. When she had told Harry and Ron that, Ron looked at her like she was crazy. Apparently wizards don't grow up with Spider-man. Before looking around, she cast a quick and quiet _homenum revelio_ to see if there was anything concealed by magic. This way she wouldn't have to risk revealing that she was aware of her follower… if there even was some one following them. When the spell revealed nothing, she tried to look around as best she could whilst pretending to fix her hair. She really didn't want to seem obvious, and over the years had developed a multitude of tactics for secretly doing things. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw something jump back into the shadows. Not wanting to push her luck though, she decided it'd be best to try and lose them instead of trying for a better look at them, or a confrontation.

"Sean dear, I think this is the graveyard Grandpa is buried in. Do you mind if we stop in and say hello?" Hermione said, gesturing to the grave yard that they were walking past. She hoped that Draco would go along with it. He paused for a split second, and upon seeing the look on necessity on her face, did.

"Of course sweetheart." He smiled grabbing her hand and walking with her into the graveyard. They walked through the graveyard, reminiscing about a grandparent who didn't exist.

"I remember when I was a little girl, he used to do magic tricks for me, like pulling money out from behind my ear, and then making it disappear again." Hermione said with a smile. Draco, aware that if they were acting as a couple they wouldn't have the same grandparents, laughed. He assumed that this was a muggle thing, as his family had always just done real magic- not that they ever really did anything to entertain him. They mostly used it to punish him. But he figured most wizard families wouldn't be doing muggle parlor tricks. He took this to mean that they were acting as muggles.

"My grandfather used to the same thing to me." He lied. His grandfather actually used to sit there and preach about blood status and the importance of keeping up our bloodline and so on and so on…

"Do you remember when you first met him?" Hermione asked.

"Yes! He scared me half to death with all those threats!" Draco laughed. Hermione laughed along with him.

"Oh that was just the initial meeting. He was just making sure you wouldn't screw me over! You guys became great friends!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, we did. He was like another grandfather to me." Draco reminisced. He wished that he could have had this pretend person for a grandfather instead.

They continued on feeding off of each other's lies until they reached a grave that looked as if it could pass as her 'grandfather's'.

"I still can't believe he's really gone." Hermione said, bringing grief into her voice to add to the act. This wasn't too hard, as she was still feeling grief over her loss of Ron. Draco put his arm around Hermione and pulled her close as a show of support for her loss. She didn't know if he was aware of the double meaning. She rested her head on his shoulder and they just stood there, looking at the grave of James Mason, whoever that was. They stood there for a minute, just looking at the grave and seemingly lost in thought. They were really putting on quite a show for whoever was watching them. It was all very believable.

"I suppose we should go." Hermione sighed, raising her head to look at Draco. "You don't mind if we stop at the library do you? There's a few books I'd like to pick up."

"Of course darling. We'll go there right now." He said, grabbing her hand as they walked towards the library. As they were leaving the graveyard, Hermione had to keep herself from doing a double take on a grave. She could have sworn that she had just seen the word '_Pettigrew'_ written on a gravestone.

Once they were inside and sure that no one had followed them, they dropped the act- especially the pet names.

"Great acting Malfoy. I'm impressed." She told him.

"I was a Death Eater against my will, of course I'm an incredible actor, I was surprised at your talent though." He said. Hermione let out a small laugh.

"Well it wasn't too hard." She said. Draco gave a knowing nod and sympathetic smile. He was unsure of what to say.

"Anyways, I'm not completely sure, but I could have sworn I saw a grave that said Pettigrew on it. I didn't want to check again incase we were still being watched." Hermione said.

"Pettigrew as in… the one that turned the Potter's in?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded and Draco's eye's widened.

"Maybe we'll have some luck in this town after all." Draco mused.

"Aren't you glad we walked?" Hermione chided with a smile. Draco let out a small laugh.

"Yes, definitely. It was nice to refresh my acting skills. I need to keep them sharp for when I get my big break!" Draco joked.

"I didn't know Wizards watched muggle movies! Especially purebloods." Hermione was stunned that Draco knew about muggle films. He ignored her pureblood comment, knowing that she didn't mean it to be rude. He also knew that it was true, as most purebloods wanted nothing to do with muggles.

"I have a few times. They're actually quite cool. I mean, you can really get caught up in a story if it's good." He said sheepishly.

"I love them." Hermione smiled.

"I'll give you an autograph when I'm a famous movie star." Draco said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah whatever Malfoy. For now why don't we focus on saving everyone." Hermione and Draco went to the archives, scanning them for any names that they knew to be magical families. They used the same system that they had before. But this time Hermione remembered that Harry had given her his Invisibility Cloak to keep her safe. This made the whole system much easier as they weren't constantly having to cast spells, and there wasn't the risk of people hearing them. It was a nuisance that they had to move together, but it was something that they could live wih.

"Malfoy, look at this. It's the article on Peter Pettigrews death! From a muggle newspaper." Hermione exclaimed, shoving it in his face. Draco took it and skimmed the page.

"It says he was killed using firecrackers. Is that the story that they fed the muggles?" Draco asked disdainfully.

"I know, it's painfully uncreative." Hermione agreed. "But then again, how many ways are there to allegedly be blown up?"

"Well well well, what have we here?" They heard a voice say. They saw a man, presumably the man that had been following them, standing in front of them. Hermione recognized him, but she didn't know where she had seen him before. Draco on the other hand, knew the face painfully well.

"Looks like there's some magical folk here. One's that have caught onto our little secret by the sounds of it." A second said, coming up alongside him. This time, neither of them knew who this one was. Perhaps he was a new recruit, or maybe he had previously been a nobody who simply moved up in ranks out of necessity. Hermione and Draco looked at each other in horror under the invisibility cloak. They had gotten careless. They mentally kicked themselves for this, especially after they had possible been followed. Hermione slowly began to stand up, beckoning for Draco to do the same. Perhaps they could sneak away under the invisibility cloak and avoid any confrontation.

"Now how could anyone know our little secret? Oh wait, that slimy blood traitor Draco Malfoy is with the Order now! How could I forget." Hermione felt Draco shaking with rage beside her. Even if he was somewhat passed the blood prejudice, such words still hurt him deeply. Especially since it was the last word he had heard from his father. Hermione grabbed his hand to remind him to keep his cool, while giving him an understanding look with an undertone of warning.

"If it's him here, I'm going to torture him into insanity like he bloody deserves. He'll be worse than the Longbottoms." The one that Draco recognized as Yaxley sneered. Now it was Draco's turn to keep Hermione calm. She was bristling with anger at the casual mention of what had happened to Neville's parents. He squeezed her hand to remind her to stay cool, and she gave him a small smile. They slowly began to inch away, making as little noise as possible. As great as it would be to capture these slimy gits, they knew that if they did their chances of finding the horcrux would be much more slim than they already were. They had to look at the bigger picture.

"Look! A foot!" One shouted. Hermione looked down to see that Draco's foot had become exposed as they tried to escape. Before anyone had time to react, Hermione began firing spells over her shoulder as she ran, dragging Draco along beside her. She didn't care if she was invisible now, they just needed to get away. There were spells flying everywhere. If it wasn't a life or death situation, it could almost be considered beautiful with all the different colours flying about. They duel was fierce. While neither side was aiming to kill- Death Eater's needed information, and the Order members merely on principal- both sides were aiming to seriously harm the other. Hermione and Draco were firing whichever hexes, charms and curses came to mind. Luckily they weren't surrounded, so they didn't need to worry about covering each other.

"Malfoy we just need be hidden for 5 seconds. Then we can apparate out of here and be safe." Hermione called above the many sounds. There were things breaking, spells whizzing about and much shouting. If Hermione hadn't been so focused on staying alive, she would have felt deep remorse for ruining so many books.

"Mad dash for the door?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded, and they took off. They were firing every protective charm they could think of over their backs, as well as a few offensive spells to shake up their opponents. Once they finally reached the door, Hermione grabbed his hand and apparated them away. When they landed in a nearby forest, Hermione collapsed. Draco looked down at her to find her in a bloody heap on the forest floor.

"Hermione? What's happened?" He asked, sinking to his knees beside her. He was so stunned and worried that he had used her first name. If Hermione wasn't in such pain and losing so much blood, she would have smiled at thi.

"Sect- Se-Sect-" Hermione tried to say. Draco looked down and realized immediately what she was trying to say. There were two huge gashes across Hermione's body. He knew exactly what curse had hit her.

"Oh Merlin." He said worriedly. He racked his brain, trying to think of a solution while Hermione was gushing blood in front of him. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast.

"Bag." Hermione croaked. Draco looked around, searching for her bag. He grabbed it and began chucking things out of it, looking for the potion that could heal cuts. When he finally found it, he began pouring it in her wounds. It wasn't working fast enough. The curse must have something in it to prevent much healing. Then he remembered. When Harry had hit him with this spell, Snape had used some spell to heal him. He began to recite the spell, drawing his wand over Hermione's wounds. He had no idea how he remembered the words, or what to do- instinct just took over. It was working. He almost laughed when he saw that she wasn't bleeding anymore. He had done it- he had saved her! His feeling of success was short lived when he realized that she had passed out from losing so much blood.

Draco set up the tent and then went about setting the wards as best he could and as quickly as he could. He'd have to remember to have Hermione check them when she woke up, he reminded himself. When he was done, he picked up Hermione and carried her inside. He placed her gently on the sofa, then dashed into the kitchen to look for some blood replenishing potion in the cabinet. He assumed that Hermione might have some in her bag, but it was so full of stuff It'd be nearly impossible to find.

"Hermione. Hermione wake up." He urged. When she didn't even budge, he realized that he would need to force it down her throat. He sighed and gently pressed his fingers to her soft lips and pried her mouth open gently. He poured some potion in her mouth and closed it, hoping that she would swallow. After a few seconds, she unconsciously did. Draco smiled and repeated the process until the correct dosage was delivered. He smiled smugly to himself at his success in keeping her alive. As an after thought, he grabbed a blanket and draped it carefully over her. When he was done, he sat down in the chair next to the sofa and thought. He thought about his parents, the Death Eaters, his past, and most of all, the fear he felt when he saw Hermione so injured. Why had he felt that way? He was only being civil, he wasn't even supposed to like her. If he didn't even like her, why had he been so worried? Draco was baffled by his emotions sometimes.

At the sound of movement, his head snapped up. He glanced over to see Hermione stirring a bit. He smiled and got up to make some tea. By the time he was done, she seemed to be awake.

"Hey sleepy head." He teased, putting her cup of tea in front of her. She gave a small smile and started to sit up. As soon as she moved, she let out a groan from the pain. Draco got up and pulled her into more of a sitting position so that she would be more comfortable without having to move. Hermione gave him a quizzical but grateful look.

"Don't move, you'll be really sore for a while. It won't be too bad tomorrow, and you should feel normal again in a few days. Just rest and stay still for now." He told her. Draco grabbed her tea and passed it to her so that she wouldn't have to move again.

"What happened?" She asked, sipping on her tea.

"One of them must have hit you just as we were apparating. It's a wonder you didn't splinch as well." He commented.

"So how'd I get here?"

"Somehow you managed to apparate us here safely. As soon as we got here you collapsed. After I finally closed your wounds- that potion was bloody useless by the way- I set up the tent and wards-which you might want to double check- and carried you inside."

"Thank you. But what'd you do for me then? What'd they even hit me with that was that bad?"

"Sectum Sempra." Draco told her. Hermione went white.

"How do other people know about that?"

"I know it because Harry hit me with it in year six, and they must have seen me or Snape do it." Hermione went whiter still.

"You-you've used it on people?" Hermione asked quietly. Draco looked down. He'd done a hell of a lot worse than that.

"It was all self-defense really. In battles you just kind of fire the first spell that comes to mind." He lamely explained. That was partially true, but he'd used it other times as well.

"Nevermind that. How'd you save me then?" She asked.

"I remembered how Snape saved me that time, and I imitated it. I don't know how I remembered it at all. I just started speaking and that's what came out. Thank Merlin it worked though. I don't know what I'd have done if it hadn't." Hermione smiled slightly at the insinuation that he needed her around. Even if he hadn't meant that, she could pretend like he cared.

"Thank you Draco." She said softly. Draco's head snapped up at the use of his first name. Hermione blushed slightly, and Draco realized that this made her look especially beautiful.

"You called me Draco." He commented in a stunned way.

"Yes, yes I did." She said in that matter-of-fact Hermione voice.

"Well Hermione, you're welcome."

A/N: They're becoming friends! Yay! I hope that this is okay. PLEASE let me know what you think. Am I moving too fast? Are they getting out of character? LET ME KNOW! I love reviews! They motivate me to write more 3


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I'M SO SORRY GUYS. I've been mega crazy busy, so I haven't been able to do anything besides school stuff. I'll work on updating much more often though. Hopefully you haven't all abandoned me. Enjoy!

Chapter 13

"I think we should go back into the town." Hermione suggested over breakfast.

"It's too dangerous." Draco told her.

"We have to. There's so much magic here. If the Death Eaters are here too then there must be something important about it." Hermione persisted.

"You're not strong enough. Plus, we probably just stumbled across the same town at the same time." Draco reasoned.

"Peter Pettigrew's grave is here. It's not just some random town!"

"That doesn't take away from the fact that you're too weak to go."

"No I'm not! I'm fine."

"Okay go walk to the kitchen and back." Draco insisted, knowing full well that she couldn't. Hermione looked at the kitchen disdainfully. Slowly she began to stand up, the pain that she was trying to hide was evident on her face and she quickly sat back down. She looked defeated.

"Exactly. How do you propose you battle Death Eater's in that condition Hermione?" Draco challenged. Hermione smiled at the use of her first name. She still wasn't used to him calling her that.

"Fine. But we're not leaving. Give me a few days to rest, then we're going. I won't let this go." She persisted. Draco looked at her and knew that even if he wanted to he couldn't make her move on. Plus, he realized that there was a chance that this town could be the one. He didn't want to potentially pass over a town that could end this whole ordeal.

"I suppose you're right." Draco admitted. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Did you just admit to being wrong?" She exclaimed.

"Yes… I guess I did. What of it?"

"Draco Malfoy… admitting to a mudblood being right over him! I never thought I'd see the day." Hermione said. Draco cringed when she called herself a mudblood. He hated when she called herself that. But he wasn't in a position to say anything, because he had called her that for years.

"Well there's a first time for everyone to be wrong I guess." He joked. Hermione laughed, but her laugh quickly turned into a grimace.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, worried about her obvious discomfort.

"Laughing. It hurts." Hermione told him. Draco smiled sympathetically. "It will for a while. Do you want anything to help the pain?"

"No I'll be fine." Hermione said, still wincing.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, looking concerned. When had be grown to have concern for people? Especially muggle-borns…

"I'm sure. Thanks." Hermione told him. She paused for a minute. "Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you suddenly so caring? I mean, look at how far we've come. It almost doesn't seem natural." Hermione commented.

"I don't know. I guess I got to know you a little better, and I realized that you're really not all that bad- even if you are a know-it-all bookworm." He teased. Hermione let out a small chuckle and winced slightly.

"It's just crazy that we've gotten to the point were you'd look after me, and I'd let you. And where we can tease each other. If some one had told me that even a month ago, I would have laughed in their face." Hermione said.

"It is almost unbelievable. I guess we were able to put our difference and the past aside. I don't know. I never really thought about it, I guess it just kind of happened."

"Speaking of our differences… are they still differences? Do you still hate muggle-borns?" Hermione asked tentatively. Now that they were quasi-friends she actually almost cared what he thought about her. Almost. Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know Hermione, I really don't. I mean, it's hard to undo almost two decades worth of it being driven into my brain. But you're making me question it all. You're not like the mudbloods that I've been trained to hate." Draco told her. As soon as he said it, he realized his mistake. And he was so angry at himself for his slip. Hermione's face darkened a little, but she didn't seem to be furious yet.

"But I'm still a mud blood." She stated.

"Hermione, I didn't mean it like that." He tried to explain. It was pointless though. If his thoughts had really changed, he wouldn't have used that word.

"There's only one meaning to the word Malfoy." She said, resorting back to his last name. Draco winced at the coldness of her voice.

"It's what they've always been called to me. I'm sorry Hermione. I really didn't mean to." Draco pleaded.

"They've? I'm one of them Malfoy. Stop pushing me out of that category because you and I both know my bloodline. I'm not ashamed of it."

"Mud blood for me was always just so negative, and I don't see you in a negative light anymore."

"But you see muggle-borns in a negative light still. And I'm one of them. So what's the difference?" Draco knew that what she said was true. He didn't know how to get out what he was trying to say. He didn't even really understand it himself.

"I guess you're the exception."

"No I'm not Draco." Hermione said, softening a little bit. She knew that he was telling the truth, but it still hurt. "I'm just like every other muggle born. And we're just like every other witch and wizard."

"I'm trying to see you for the person you are, not your blood status. I forgot about it until you brought it up. I'm sorry Hermione. Please forgive me. I don't want to fight with you. It's just not something I can help." He pleaded. Hermione sighed.

"I know. I just wish it was."

"Can we please just not talk about this? Screw blood status. Right now it's just us. Let's leave it at that and just see each other for the person." He proposed. Hermione considered this. Why could he ignore blood status when it was just them? Why not infront of other people? He was embarrassed by her, that's why. On top of that, blood is a part of her person. So it did matter. Although, she really did was to be able to put it all behind them.

"My blood is a part of me Draco. You'll have to come to accept that eventually. But yes. I prefer it when we aren't fighting." She told him. "Seeing as we have no one but-"

Draco looked up when her sentence cut off. Hermiones eyes were rolled into the back of her head, blood starting to trail out of her mouth, as well as foam and she had started convulsing. She looked absolutely terrifying. And he had no idea what to do.

"Hermione! Hermione look at me!" yelled Draco franctically. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know any healing spells advanced enough to help her. He didn't know of any potions to help. That was it! Potions- a bezoar! That might work, even if it wasn't a poison. He rushed to the kitchen and started frantically searching through the potions cabinet in search of a bezoar. Why did there have to be so many potions? Finally he reached the back of the cabinet. There they were, 2 bezoars. He almost laughed with relief as he grabbed them and rushed back to Hermione. He forced open her mouth and shoved in the bezoar. Draco waited nervously, hoping for some sign to tell him if it was working or not. Finally she opened her eyes.

"Hermione! Oh thank god it worked." He breathed. Hermione still looked disoriented and not quite herself.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked shakily.

"It was terrible. You just started shaking and bleeding and your eyes were rolling back. I thought you were going to die. I didn't know what to do so I shoved a bezoar down your throat." He told her. Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure it out.

"That's not supposed to happen after Sectum Sempra. Maybe it was another curse. Or maybe they altered it. Either way, the bezoar was temporary. It only truly works for potions. It's temporary for anything else." She told him calmly. Draco went white. What in Merlin's name was he supposed to do? He wasn't a healer, and she wasn't strong enough to apperate.

"Hermione… what do I do? How can I fix this?

"I don't know. Go into my bag. There should be a book on healing in there. Find the diagnostic spell and follow the instructions. Then based on that diagnosis, go into the index and try to find the spell to heal it. I'm not sure how much longer I'll last, so try to work quickly." She said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. He didn't understand how she could possibly be so calm when she could potentially die. He was a nervous wreck, although he tried not to show it.

"Okay." He said, rummaging through Hermione's never ending bag. He was pulling book after book after book out. "Ah-ha! Got it."

"Finally." She muttered. He shot her a look, and then scoured it for the diagnostic spell. Finally he found the one he was looking for.

"Sorry about this." He said, as he pulled Hermione's top up to her chest.

"Draco it's just my stomache." She said rolling her eyes.

"Well I don't know! With you…" He trailed off, hoping she got what he was trying to say. She was such a prude in school that he was almost positive no one had seen her remotely naked.

"I'm not that prude, self-conscious little girl anymore." She said as if reading his mind. "Just get on with the spell."

"_Egritudo." _He muttered as he waved his wand over Hermione's abdomen. He waited a minute, and slowly different parts of her abdomen started to glow different colours. His eyes widened as he realized how extensive her injuries were. He looked at the colour index to see what each meant.

"Slightly punctured lung. Broken rib. Internal bleeding. Your stomach is filling with fluid. Your stomach muscles are severed as well." He told her, but her eyes had already started rolling back into her head. She hadn't quite gone yet, but it was clear that she fighting to stay alert.

"Fuck." Draco said, rapidly flipping to the index. He scanned the summary for each spell as fast as he could. He decided to heal her broken rib last, as it was the least threatening, and her lung first. Finally he found the spell he was looking for.

"_Sana pulmonis._" He said, pointing his wand in the direction of her lungs. He watched nervously, waiting for the glowing to fade. Finally, slowly, the blue glow coming from her lungs faded until it disappeared completely. Draco let a sigh of relief, then plunged back into the book. He looked up briefly to see how Hermione was doing. Her eyes were rolled back, and she was bleeding out of her mouth again, but her breathing wasn't as labored as it was the last time and she wasn't convulsing or foaming this time. He found the next spell quite quickly now that he knew the layout of the book and index.

"_Prohibere interno cruenti."_ He said, pointing his wand at the red glow coming from her abdomen. Again he looked on nervously as the red slowly faded away. He let out another relieved sigh before glancing up at Hermione. The blood was still dripping out of her mouth, but it didn't look as if there was anymore coming. Again, he dove into the book searching for a way to stop the fluid rising in her stomach. If he didn't find anything soon, she could potentially drown.

"_Devium effercio." _ He said, pointing his wand at her stomach yet again. This time it took a little bit longer to work. He watched nervously as the green glow shrunk until it eventually left all together. He was about to turn the page back to the index when he noticed a bolded section that he had missed.

_This spell is a general spell. It only gets rid of a fluid. It will do nothing to stop the potentially harmful effects that the fluid might have. It would be wise to extract some of the fluid incase it was a poison, and then find the anti-poison for it. _

"Bloody hell." Draco muttered to himself. He should have read the whole page. What if there was some poison in her stomach? Now there was nothing that he could do.

"What?" He nearly jumped at the sound of another voice. He looked up, to see that Hermione was awake again. He was so relieved to see that he had succeeded yet again that he hugged her. Hermione was so stunned and… happy, that she barely even noticed the pain as he squeezed her tightly. She was even more stunned to find that it felt nice to have him hugging her. It felt… right.

"Ouch." She found herself saying as he squeezed too tightly.

"Oh! I'm sorry." He said jumping back. Hermione smiled.

"It's fine. Just my rib I think." She told him.

"I guess I was just so relieved that-"

"Draco you don't have to explain yourself for hugging me." She laughed. Draco blushed a little. Hermione found that rather cute, although she was still surprised that he was even capable of feeling embarrassed.

"It's just, well I'm not really a hugging person." He explained.

"I know. But in the mean time… my rib and abdomen." She reminded him.

"Oh right!" He said, picking up the book and immersing himself in it to escape the awkwardness.

"_Figere musculus."_ He said, pointing at her stomach and yet again watching the purple glow fade. Hermione smiled, relieved to be okay.

"Skele-grow should do for the rib." She offered, knowing that all that magic must be tiring both mentally and emotionally on Draco, as they weren't particularly easy spells to do. Draco nodded and headed back over to the cabinet where the potions were kept. He stared as he saw the mess that he had created in his efforts to find a bezoar. There were bottles thrown about the cabinet and the floor. He was amazed at how many potions that the tent was stocked with- more that he knew existed. Too lazy to pick them up manually, he flicked his wand and they all zoomed back into their rightful places.

"_accio_ _Skele-grow."_ He said, and the potion flew out of the cabinet and into his hand. He grinned, and then mentally hit himself for his stupidity at not having just used accio to get the bezoar early.

"Here you go." He said, offering the potion to her. She took off the cap and poured the correct amount into the cap, and then into her mouth, grimacing at the taste.

"Thank you," She said, handing the bottle back. Now she was wincing in pain as the skele-grow did its job. He took the bottle back and put on another pot of tea.

"So when I woke up, you weren't pleased about something. What was it?" She asked. Draco looked at her in confusion, then shook his head as he remembered. He had been so pleased that she was okay that it completely slipped his mind.

"The book, it said that if the fluid was a poison, then it wouldn't have stopped the effects of the poison. I didn't take any of the fluid out, so I don't even know what it was." He said nervously. Hermione just laughed, confusing Draco even further.

"You shoved a bezoar down my throat Draco. That would have gotten rid of any magical properties in a potion. All that would be left is the liquid. There's nothing to worry about." She assured him. For the zillionth time that day, Draco let out a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, what do you think the spell was?" He asked.

"I don't know. I didn't hear him say it. It looked like sectum Sempra, but clearly it was different. I don't know if it was a different spell all together, or if maybe they modified it. Or maybe I got hit with a bunch of different spells. Or maybe I just ran into things. That could explain the broken rib and the potentially punctured lung." She offered.

"Hermione, I've never heard of a spell that could place a potion in your stomach. I've seen spells put animals inside of people. I've seen them turn people inside out even, but I've never seen that." He said worriedly.

"We don't know it was a poison." She offered. He noticed a tinge of sadness in her eyes. For a minute it confused him. Then he realized she was probably sad about all the awful things that he's seen.

"You were convulsing and foaming the first time, but after the bezoar you weren't. I'd say it was."

"Then maybe it was. Maybe they're getting smarter or discovering different types of magic." Hermione said nonchalantly. How could she be so blasé about all of this?

"If they're getting smarter then that's a problem for us. The ones I know that are left aren't smart enough to figure out how to do that. They must have recruited some pretty powerful people Hermione, and that's a massive problem. And what do you mean different types of magic?" He asked. He had never heard of different types of magic. As far as he was concerned, magic was magic.

"There are different areas of magic. For example, the Indians have their own branch, as do the Egyptians and so on. All the basics are the same, but they just have different branches for different things and some different ways of doing things. It's kind of hard to explain. I don't really know much about it myself, as you have to be from there to really know it. Or at least have a native teach it to you." She told him.

"How do you know this?"

"I'm Hermione Granger. How do you think I know it?" Draco was left scrambling for some kind of a comeback, even though what Hermione said wasn't offensive, he felt the need to prove his intelligence. Call it pureblood pride perhaps. Luckily for him, he was saved by a familiar hooting sound.

"Hedwig! Go get him Draco, please?" She pleaded. Draco, seeing the excitement and happiness all over her face, knew that he couldn't deny her.

A/N: So yeah, hopefully you enjoyed it. Hopefully none of you know too many languages because my spells are incredibly unoriginal. oops! Please please review and let me know what you think! Any suggestions would be just lovely as well :) I'm also kinda running out of ideas on where to go, so leave suggestions for that too please please! xoxooxoxo


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